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Liked the insomnia / sleeping concept, they should have exploited it more
This sweet sport BL set in university was not memorable but still super cute. I liked the insomnia topic and the solution found to it, it led to very charming scenes between the two main characters. The story is not very deep nor intricate, just a simple and relaxing watch. The flashbacks were incorporated in the right way to make the viewer really curious about what happened between the characters.Chemistry-wise there were some good points between the male leads but overall it felt a bit too timid. Especially given the fact that both the sport and the sleeping concepts could lead to a lot of skinship, it was not exploited enough. Same for the kisses, it was very tame. The secondary characters also were totally bland.
Despite the fact that I liked the snippets of the OST spread through the series, it felt very strange in the way those were edited. The music feeling both too overpowering and on the nose at many moments while leaving me at other points with the impression there was not enough time to listen to it for the songs I liked...It was quite jarring and strange. Other than that, I found the rain sequences and summery vibe enjoyable.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a short and sweet BL in a university setting with some sport element. It is cute but not really memorable and I think they could have done better in terms of chemistry as well as exploiting the insomnia/sleeping concept that led to some charming scenes.
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Artsy and unfathomable Chinese thriller - will leave you pondering
This Chinese thriller is centered around Detective Ma Zhe as he investigates a series of murders that happened in a rural area nearby a river in 1995. It is not a typical "Who's done it?" mystery as it focus much more on psychological aspects (with some quite crazy / feverish scenes) and an unreliable narrator... The spectator is left to ponder about the resolution of the mystery. I'm unsure if I enjoyed the film or if I am more perplexed by how to interpret it. I also think pacing could have been better.Acting was good. Especially the performance of Zhu Yi Long who brought a lot of gravitas to his role. I personally enjoyed as well the actor playing the sidekick of our main detective. His role was a much needed relief to the overall pressure felt by the main character in his resolve to find out the truth.
Filmmaking is properly impressive as it clearly makes the viewer feel that the movie is shoot in the 1990s. The dark colors, the gloomy atmosphere of the story under a lot of rain contribute tremendously to the heaviness and almost thickness of the unfathomable plot. The background music with a lot of classical tunes has a melancholic vibe properly fitting the story.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good filmmaking and acting. It features rural China in the 1990s and is quite dark with the scenario deeply rooted in exploring the darkest aspects of people in small town. If you enjoyed series like "Mare of Easttown", you will likely enjoy it. However, there is a part of frustration bounded to the resolution of the mystery as it left a lot to the viewer's interpretation.
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So much more than a romance: poetic and beautifully filmed <3
This movie showcases an amazing story, pretty deep and far from a conventional sweet romance. As I never read synopsis, I had no idea from looking at just the title and the poster how raw and pure the story was going to be. It exceeded my expectations on a lot of aspects as it is a powerful tale featuring captivating characters developing a strong and beautiful relationship, bounded through their inner and external wounds. It is gut-wrenching and I was on the edge of my seat towards the end.The pace of the story was pretty good in setting up the characters, the relationships as well as what's at stake in their lives. The last arc is truly compelling and I just wish they would have given even more time to the ending...But that's likely me being greedy.
I was totally impressed by the acting. I picked up this movie because of Yamada Ryosuke which I did not see since a while on my screen. I found his acting very convincing. He really worked on his micro-expressions and was able to emote really well. I am honestly so astonished on how good he has become. His chemistry with Hamabe Minami was also very credible.
The sounds are super important in this film: it is the music, the voices, the light noises that are the driving strength of the story...from the beginning into the conclusion. The filmmaking is truly beautiful, there are some pretty brutal sequences and you feel in your gut the pain of the characters. There are also some really pretty and poetic moments.
I would strongly recommend this to people looking for a deeply romantic and lyrical tale. Do not expect sweet and fluffy romance here, that is not the point of the story. It is for sure highly rewatchable for the acting and cinematography itself that bring out the best of this poetic and gut-wrenching story full of sensibility.
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Too bad the storytelling around the stakes and the editing hindered my enjoyement
I was quite disappointed by this action movie. More specifically because the most interesting aspect of the plot (with the submarine scenes, all involving a deep and gutwrenching psychological aspect) is only coming up past the 2/3 of the movie. I'm left to wonder if I would not have appreciated much more the film if it had been edited in another way around rather than creating a false suspense regarding the identity of the antagonist.The performance of the casting was overall good but not stellar. At the end, surprisingly enough, it is two of the guest roles (played by Cha Eun Woo and Lee Min Ki) that grabbed the most my attention. I wish that Lee Jong Suk would have been given a bit more room to shine and do more in terms of dialog as well as characterization. Once again, maybe a different edit of the story would have allowed to have much more powerful stakes for the story.
Regarding the production value, it was pretty good. There are some rather thrilling action sequences and good ideas in terms of directing. There are a lof of variety in the dangerous situations faced by the main protagonists. The soundtrack is quite absent from the movie, not that memorable but there is a pretty sorrowful song that I enjoyed during the ending generic.
I would not necessarily recommend this to people as I did not particularily enjoyed my watch. My main issue with the film is coming from the scenario and the way the story is building up the characters. I did not manage to engage with the main roles and in an action movie, rooting for the good guys and understanding from where they are coming from is critical to really get me invested and care about the story. Here, I started to care much too late and felt that the 2/3 of the movie was not as exciting as I would have wished.
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Loved the intention of the story, the main actors chemistry...A bit too short to conclude solidly
A bitter sweet BL story where two former high school lovers meet again in their thirties after breaking up in quite ambiguous circumstances. I truly enjoyed the intention behind the script: to go from the nostalgia and bitterness of young love to the passion and uncertainty of love at adulthood.Given the short duration of the series, I felt the scenario managed to accomplish a lot in the development of the relationship, at least until its last episode where I felt the resolution of the external conflict a bit too easy. I would have prefer they kept the issue and evolution mainly internal to the couple because there were clearly not enough time to conclude properly on what felt as a last minute external obstacle.
I liked a lot the two main actors as well as their younger selfs counterparts. I found both iterations of the couple had great and palpable chemistry. The secondary roles were less convincing to me, they were either transparent (e.g. the office coworkers) or too caricatural (e.g. the "antagonists/rivals").
I enjoyed the original soundtrack, it was very slice-of-life, not that original but very pleasant and completely fitting the story. The production was quite standard for the genre with not a lot of variety in the sets and decors. There was obviously not that much budget but it was not detrimental to the storytelling.
I would recommend this to people looking for an adult BL story, which manage to bring together an innocent youth love with a mature romance when they reunite. It is a bit of shame that the last conflict and the conclusion are less solid than the introduction and middle part of the series but it is overall a very enjoyable watch.
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Uninspired BL movie: banal story + bad acting
This BL movie depicts a quite banal romance. It had some cute moments but honestly I could not get behind the romance. I felt no chemistry and I really think the way they set up the romantic elements make it difficult to support it. Too much "destiny" stuff preventing any real character development. Destiny is pushing them together (-at least we are told so) but there is not much else there to show why they would develop mutual romantic feelings. It feel very surface level despite the fact that the film address some concern faced by the protagonists regarding their sexuality and their acceptance within society.Unfortunately, the actors skills are pretty weak. Most of the dialogs felt super flat though strangely enough, there are also so many over-the-top and overacting moments. I cringed at so many scenes, which I am pretty sure was really not the purpose.
The production value was overall ok, it felt like your standard / middle-of-the-road high school series. The saving grace of the movie was a couple of songs sang by one of the main character. It was nice without being very remarkable.
I would not recommend this to people as there are much better BL highschool romance out there. It is only the second production from Philippines I watch and I must say that so far, I'm not convinced about what I have seen. I still want to discover more from this country because I think I might just be not lucky so far with my picks.
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Disturbing: I'm not sure about the what and why, icky but kinda grossly fascinating
This very short movie of about 15 minutes is very indie as it focus on a very odd and relatively disturbing topic as one of the character has a strong secret kink. No judgment from my part, but I personally found it quite gross and icky.The camera does not shy from the disturbing details and the main actor does an overall convincing job. The filmmaking has a very strong approach on featuring the specific kink of the main character. It is kinda fascinating in a way and I felt a bit sick watching it.
It is impactful in a way but I am absolutely not sure of what the movie is trying to say or why...Honestly there are many fascinating elements in the psyche of the main character that would be interesting to explore...But the short length of the movie prevent any kind of plot & character development.
I would not recommend this movie as I am so unsure of what to think of it after watching it. It is pretty short so you might want to give it a shot if you like indie movies featuring somewhat obscure and disturbing topic.
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Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji stole a place in my heart ~~~
The story is beautifully built. Each of the narrative arc is interesting not only for the storylines but as well because they participate so much to characters development. There are a lot of clues spreaded through the script that results in highly satisfying payoff. The characters are very well written: they remain consistent during the whole saga and their motivations and actions make sense, which given the length of the show is quite an achievement in itself. The pace of the series was very good, you feel immediately compelled to watch the next episode. There might have been a bit of overexplanation scenes toward the end (it can feel slighlty repetitive, especially if you guessed some of the revelations like I did)...But at the same time the ending offers so many rewarding and great moments for the viewer that I was really happy with it.The acting was really good. Especially regarding the actors playing the central protagonists: Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji. Wei Wu Xian was my favorite character and Xiao Zhan portrayed him with a lot of charm, candor and charisma...The variety in his acting game really seduced me. Wang Yi Bo who portrayed Lan Wang Ji had a difficult job as his character is very cold/reserved but he managed to do a lot in terms of micro-expression and you can see the evolution of his character as the series progresses. The secondary cast was also very convicing in incarnating the support roles (such asJiang Cheng, Jiang Lan Yi, Wen Ning...so many interesting parts who shined through with amazing and emotional scenes.) Overall, the ensemble cast was very good with maybe some weaklinks on a few very secondary roles.
The production value was good but lacked in some way. I'm probably nipicking because I loved this series very much but I truly wish they had a bigger budget for some scenes (the battles ones), the fights in small numbers were good and special effect were okay in overall. But clearly there were some obvious limitation when showing scenes in an impactful / big picture way, the grandiosity was not there (or at least not as much as I feel the story deserved). I wish the special effect make up would have been much better because it was frankly not good. The music was lovely: mainly the musical themes, as some of the characters plays instruments to fight, the soundtrack theme was of utmost importance. It was very nice and pretty.
I would strongly recommend this to people looking for an historical saga splendidly built, with amazing characters and relationship developments as well as some great acting. It is an adaptation of a Chinese BL novel (which I have not read -yet) and despite the censorship in China regarding those, they manage quite successfully to make the viewer understand the subtext behind some of the relationships.
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So many issues, grotesque but somewhat entertaining in a confusing way.
This horror movie is such a mixed bag for me. It has some gripping and really WTF moments...But it failed on many elements. Indeed, in terms of horror, unfortunately, I was never really frightened. I often cringed and was quite appalled by some scenes...But the visual effects are quite bad and the acting is also very limited, which is problematic for the horror to properly work.The main issue is that some characters are part of a theatre club doing grotesque and gruesome pieces, so they do "fake horrific scenes" BUT the real horror situations seems to be put at the same level...You cannot be really scared therefore because everything feel unreal due to the context in which the characters evolve. If they had a bigger budget to make the horror part frightening enough and different enough from the theatric club part, that would have worked so much better...
Regarding the acting, it got a bit better in the second half but most of the actors were average at best. Some were saying their lines in such an unconvincing way that it was comical. Some were clearly under-acting (instead of over-acting) which is an error because it did not match the craziness of the plot.
Regarding the story, it is a bit of shame that they did not lean more into characterization for the main protagonists. It makes it super difficult to care for whatever was happening to them. I think they were too many to be properly developped given the length of the movie. The adults roles were pretty limited and boring but there was a lot of interesting aspects relating to the students. It could have made a fascinating series expanding on each of the characters with all their kinks and unhealthy relationships.
I would not recommend this movie because I am very ambivalent about my feelings about it. It is objectively bad on so many aspects but still it is so WTF that it might be worth a watch (?). It is super gruesome and graphic, so if you are squimmish, it is definitely not for you. The scare level is not really there because of the acting and context in which the characters evolve make everything pretty unconvicing.
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This drama is like catnip to me <3 Love it !!! I'm emotional thinking back about it...
This excellent BL series really brought me a lot of feelings and emotions. The thematics approached in it resonnated so much with me...It contains tropes I love (in particular a fantastical element with the virtual reality/game aspect) and I really enjoyed so much watching this series. Because I'm greedy sometimes, I wish it would have been longer but it has a very good duration when comparing to most Korean BL I have seen.The casting was very good. I believed in the different friendships and bounds forming. The romantic scenes were amazing and honestly I am still a bit sentimental thinking back about them just after finishing the series. The main characters had a lot of emotional bagage to carry and the actors really portrayed convincingly the broken parts of their roles. The evolution of their relationship felt very natural and organic from both sides. Both main male leads did an excellent job but I must say that Lee Tae Vin is the one who impressed me the most...He succeded in playing with many layers and I hope to see in in more dramas.
The soundtrack was really good, it had a KPOP vibe that I usually enjoy and really brought a great energy to the overall series. I enjoyed as well the filmmaking. I do think they made the most with seemingly a limited budget. There were some really strikingingly beautifully filmed moments (especially some of the most romantic scenes).
I would recommend this strongly to people looking for a Youth BL, it is very fluffy but at the same time deeper than it appears. It is an healing watch that will brought you all the feels. If you enjoyed "Our Dating Sim", I really think this one might win you heart as well. It left me with such a lasting impression on me and I will gladly rewatch it <3.
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Despite its short length, this series still felt like a loss of time...
This short length series (26 episodes for a total duration of 3h42 minutes) follows the relationship between Yan Zhen (acting as CEO of the company instead of her husband who mysteriously disappeared while trying to invesigate some corporate issue) and Chu Ze An, the twin of her lost spouse. Does it sound bonker but interesting with a lot of soap elements ? Yes. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my time watching this series, the writer chose the safest and blankest way to develop the plot.I wish they went crazy with it but sadly enough, it remained all along very timid and safe...In addition to that, none of the choices made by the characters made a lot of sense...All their issues could have been resolved much more efficiently, the scenario makes a point to tell us how smart they are, but honestly their actions are dumb most of the time...I must admit that the heroine is the smartest of them all, so it alleviated a bit my frustration with the scenario.
The acting was very bad. There were so many "WTF" moments where the actors almost did not react...I did not feel the chemistry between the leads and separately they were not able to carry any of the dramatic moments. I know they were not helped at all by the writing but I wish they would have at least made some minimal effort to emote any kind of believable emotions...They were really generic all along the series. The secondary roles were not portrayed in a more inspired way and the actors playing them had also what felt as limited acting chops.
The production value was average at best, which I expected given the short lenght series format. The soundtrack was pretty nice, a bit repetitive and overpowering given the length of the episodes but overall probably the best part of the series.
I would not recommend this to people as there are much better dramas out there. Even if you are looking for some soap, brainless series to just entertain yourself, there are for sure more fun and better things to watch. It felt like a loss of time, the story was really uninspired, boring and overall badly acted.
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Disappointing, tries to do too much in too little time / do not convey a convincing BL story
This BL drama is centred around the encounter of Toki, delinquent highschooler and Sahara, his homeroom teacher for which he develops a one-sided love...The premise of the series was super interesting and there were quite a few good ideas in terms of characters background and even regarding a storyline for secondary characters that was super promising (another rather taboo romance that went regrettably nowwhere).Unfortunately, the overall scenario is a deception at several levels. First, they really embraced a comedical tone for the first part of the drama instead of really deep-diving into the more taboo aspects of the various relationships...The writing and directing wanted to keep things light and relatively surface level which is clearly not the direction I wanted the show to take. Secondly, the series tried to do too much in too little time. We get a lot of background story on some side characters or on the past but in fact it is to the detriment of the build up of the relationship of the main couple.
I was utterly unconvinced by the relationship between both main male leads. They had no romantic chemistry. Separately they were a bit better (especially Hachimura Rintaro who managed to make his character rather endearing when he could have been very annoying) but sadly it was very difficult to feel engaged into their relationship...The others actors playing secondary roles were quite okay overall, nothing really remarkable but nothing bad neither.
The production value was rather poor, you can feel the limits in the budget with the repetition of the sets and decors, as well as the limits in the directing (fight scenes were just cringe). The music was forgettable but I enjoyed listening to the opening and ending generic.
I would not recommend this to people as there are better school BL out there. This series had some really nice tropes but completly failed to exploit them. I wish they would take the two same storylines (teacher/ student as well as the other side romance) and make it very gritty and dark...I wish they focus solely on those two relationships and give them enough room to develop and be believable. Anyway, too many wishes...It could have been really special but was rather plain instead.
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Societal critic supported by a strong cast and impressive storytelling: very deep and impactful!
A beautiful movie very impactful and that made a deep impression on me upon watching. The scenario is one of the strong point of the movie: it almost felt like a theatre play in several acts. Every question find an answer, every element showcased at one point of the script has an importance for the rest of the story... The film approaches some very important societal topics and provide a sound critic of Japanese society without being preachy and with a lot of subtlety.The cast is really great: the characters are multi-faceted and the actors and actresses manage to provide plenty of nuances to their roles. There are a lot of angsty and emotional moments that are played with expertise for the adults parts and candor for the children parts.
The production value is good, I loved some of the decors as well as the editing which really enhanced the various storylines intertwined with each other. The soundtrack was not overly present but there are some critical scenes involving music with a very interesting set up.
I would strongly recommend this movie to people looking for a film providing a critic of Japanese society, discussing important topics and very well acted. The ending made a very strong impression on me...I will not spoil it but the message behind it really moved me deeply. There are some triggering aspects to the movie but it is not too graphic, a lot happens in subtext and is understood as the story unfolds itself. If you are looking for some fluff or slice-of-life movie, it is not the film for you. But if you are ready for some great and poignant storytelling, give it a shot!
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Incredible side characters & secondary romance that stole the show to the detriment of main couple
This BL drama is about the encounter of emotionally closed-off almost 40 years old Jim (the owner of a Hainanese chicken rice diner) and charming late twenties Wen. There are multiple storylines as the drama follows the evolution of their relationship as well as the ones of their entourage.I had some issues with the pacing of the scenario as well as the distribution of the scenes between the various relationships. I truly enjoyed most of the secondary stories but it was to the detriment of the main relationship of Jim and Wen. I love the ensemble cast but clearly some of the secondary storylines interested me more than the main one. I particularly liked the Li Ming and Heart story: they kinda stole the show for me. I also found myself caring a lot about some other sides characters: Kaipa, Alan and Saleng...much more than the main couple.
Regarding the main relationship, Mix managed to make Wen a likeable and endearing character. He is beautiful and sincere that you can completely understand why the other male main lead would fall for him despite his messy arc. The opposite was less true to me. Jim is a hard worker with seemingly good intentions but he is really closed off and has big walls (for good reasons). However, it is really difficult to root for him and to understand why Wen is so smitten by him. I wonder if the script would have given more room to them, it would have made a difference in making the growth of the relationship more romantic. Here, it felt that the relationship was working thanks to Wen hard work, in a rather unilateral and sometimes frustrating way.
The whole cast did a good job. Khaotung is once again very impressive and full of nuances: even in a side role, he made me care so much. Some of his scenes are gut-wrenching and I know that it is thanks to his great skills that the emotions flowed through so well. I also found First amazing in a very different and difficult role : he carried it very well given the context of his narrative arc. Fourth and Gemini chemistry continue to be really excellent, they had the best romance.
I liked a lot Mix performance but I wish that Earth would have been more charismatic in the role of Jim. He was not helped by the script but still, he was clearly the weakling in terms of acting skills among the main cast. I also wished that the age gap thing would have been better addressed. Here, it was a bit strange as Earth does not seem to have a 10 years age gap with Mix (in real life, they are only 4 years apart and are both still in their twenties)...Earth's character is supposed to be going on forty but sometimes his character talks like he is 70+ years old and that any change is impossible like he is at the end of the road...This creates clearly a disconnection in the story because you really need to suspend your disbelief when you look at Earth attempting to play that part...
I loved the cinematography despite some editing hiccups between scenes...Sometimes, there are jarring cuts in the music when switching from one scenes to another...The soundtrack is rather average outside of the generic which is very nice because of the song as well as the images displayed with it.
I would recommend this to people looking for a more slice-of-life BL with nuanced storylines and very good ensemble cast. The cinematography is good despite some editing hiccups and there are some really memorable scenes in terms of acting and stakes. The pacing could have been better and the main romance is a bit lacking story-wise (especially compared to the other storylines) but the series has enough qualities despite its flaws to be worthwhile.
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Delightful waste - objectively bad but enjoyable
This movie is about the story of cellphone novelist Yukina Himuro who decides to blackmail the most popular boy from her high school to gain romantic experience through various "love missions". It is a condensed version of old school shojo manga tropes, so despite the overall toxicity, woman manhandling and non-consensual elements, I quite enjoyed the movie because (or thanks to) the nostalgia throwback.The acting is overall okay but far from stellar. The main actor and actress are charismatic enough especially when playing the more "odd" and "dark" parts of their characters but the script does not give them a lot of room to show growth or realistic emotions. The antagonist role would have really benefited of more nuance in the acting as well but it was clearly not the vibe the director was going for. The overall production value is pretty low, you feel the low budget in the background and decor. It is suitable for the genre but also quite uninspired.
I would not recommend this because it is objectively not good. It enters the category of delightful waste, you might hate it, watch ironically (or even maybe unironically enjoy it for what it is) but there are for sure better high school romance out there.
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