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Agapito is being trained to be a village healer like his father. His bears the marks on his face of his father’s violence and impatience. While in the jungle, Agapito becomes locked in a circular path around a large tree and catches a glimpse of a horse’s tail when he’s freed. After treating a patient and receiving an ominous message in wax, the father sends Agapito with a machete to cut down the tree. Startled by a tikbalang peeking behind the tree, Agapito runs, falling headlong down a hill. He awakens to a curious examination by the mythical creature.
I knew nothing about tikbalangs so they were new to me. This one was portrayed as linked to the tree, possibly a guardian? When a tree was killed so was the tikbalang attached to it. There was a message of forest conservation woven into the story or at least reverence for nature. But the most powerful message was that of acceptance. After both initially being startled, Agapito (“beloved” / “lovingkindness”) and the tikbalang fell in love**. Something the teen’s father and the villagers for that matter were none too keen about.
I found this romantic fairytale delightful and thoroughly enjoyed the silent film style. Who wouldn’t want someone who could show them the happy butterflies within them?
11 October 2026
*Tikbalang: A human-horse hybrid of sorts in Filipino folklore. In this film, the tikbalang had horse ears and shaggy long hair, and sported a horse’s tail in one scene.
**Spoilery comment below:
* I wondered about the rain falling at the ending. When rain pours out of a sunny sky it means a tikbalang is getting married. ^^
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Detective Okamoto Kenji has been on suspension for 3 months after his reporter girlfriend Kono Kyoko uses his case file for a story. He’s called back into action when a professor Kyoko is interviewing on television is attacked by a vapor monster and blows up. From there Kenji is taken down a meteorite hole of government and police corruption in league with the yakuza.
What I liked:
The acting was strong for the genre.
The special effects were quite well done, though they were used sparsely.
The drama looked good.
What made me go hmmm….
~~The yakuza tied to all of the corruption doesn’t have their own surveillance around their super not so secrety building and gambling operation?
~~I was startled when a character ordered a cream soda and got a ghastly, ghostly green drink. Turns out it’s a very different drink in Japan than where I am. There it’s melon flavored. Here cream soda is a creamy, vanilla tasting drink. No shade, I just learned something. ^^
~~For the millionth time, tires do not squeal on grass or dirt.
What didn’t work for me:
~~This drama played out like a Korean political corruption drama. When I checked the writers, it turned out that it was written by South Korean writers. Wrong place, wrong genre, for this muddled mess of government/police/yakuza corruption.
~~Overuse of the worst thriller tropes:
Run to the most isolated place if being chased by gangsters.
“I have the only copy of the evidence that will prove everything, let me just physically take it slowly on a deserted road to turn it in.” I was ready to root for the yakuza when they were smart enough to avoid this trope.
~~Far too much filler. “We’re finally making progress with the story, let’s spend an episode going down a weird garden path that could have been revealed in minutes.”
~~The whole White Center meteorite story was a dumpster fire of illogical storytelling. A glowing meteorite origin story is okay in monster flicks, but not when they try to shoehorn it into realistic world building.
~~Monologuing villains. I do not care about Miguel and beekeeping. STFU and get on with it.
~~Most egregiously, they literally sucked all the life and human interest out of the Human Vapor. I really hated the plot turn regarding the Vapor.
To sum up:
This could have been an entertaining monster revenge drama, but they couldn’t help themselves from layering in the corruption. The only monster was the human syndicate of stereotypical villains that hogged the camera and dragged down the story. There were too many loose ends and unanswered questions. And by the end, I didn’t even care if they didn’t answer the questions, I just wanted the Vapor to evaporate.
4 October 2026
Trigger warnings:
Nudity. Turtles being spun on a roulette wheel. Torture. Exploding body.
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"Well done. You walked straight into hell."
In The Enchantress it took the martial clans and celestial warriors to bring down one vengeful ghost. And no one ever bothered to check their notes to see if maybe she had good reason for wanting revenge.Feng Xi Wu decides to check out the Moonlit Palace where martial artists keep getting the life sucked out of them and thrown in the water after entering the colorful place. Once a samurai stronghold, now it lies empty or so people think. He meets Shui Ling outside and saves her from sword wielding men. She attempts to discourage him from entering the palace but he does so anyway and meets her mother, Shui Tian Jiao. Shui Ling saves his life and infuriates her mother causing nearly 20 years of anger and anguish to explode.
The Enchantress didn’t really have any main leads, except for perhaps Bonnie Ngai as the Japanese princess Shui Tian Jiao. She had the most screen time as the murderous ghost. Ngai spent nearly all of her scenes suspended from wires being swung around and laughing manically. Max Mok and Yung Jing Jing were the star-crossed lovers with serious in-law problems. Lo Lieh played a master of the mystical arts with one of the most annoying apprentices ever. Tony Liu had several hysterically funny scenes when he was possessed and fighting himself. Shaw Brothers regulars Norman Chu, Philip Kwok, and Yueh Hua all made appearances with numerous other familiar faces.
The fighting rarely let up and was often accompanied by Roman candles, smoke/fog, colorful lighting, spinning lanterns, and 1980’s low rent special effects. Wire work and trampolines were used copiously. As I mentioned, Ngai was thrown about routinely as she terrorized she blamed. Most of the fights were standard with some serious undercranking at times. Basically, quantity over quality with plenty of explosions, flying objects and people, and ghostly possessions. My only complaint was that Yung Jing Jing was embarrassingly bad when she attempted fight moves. Her best acting was when her character was unconscious.
The Enchantress wasn’t horrible for this genre of kung fu flick, but it wasn’t very good either. Too many characters made it hard to invest in any of them. I thought it was humorous that it took nearly every martial artist in the area, plus the celestial order to bring down one pissed off female ghost. There was a lesson to be learned in there. They should have handed the offender over to her right off the bat and let him fulfill his oath. Only for fans of the genre or who have a fave in the cast. As always, I rate these old niche films on a generous curve.
“It’s all because of a love turned sour.” I have notes on this below. *
2 October 2026
Dubbing notes: I really wish this had been done in Cantonese. Sometimes the Mandarin dubbing in these SB films could be atrocious with the words and lips not matching up.
Spoilery comment below:
* “It’s all because of a love turned sour.” Makes it sound like he was unfaithful or they had a falling out. He was responsible for the Japanese princess being brutally murdered—and she was his loving wife no less. She and the samurai had not proved themselves to be a danger and yet the families decided they needed to be eliminated with extreme prejudice and her husband joined them because he didn’t have the cajones to say no.
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"It feels most lonely to be without enemies."
Ghosts Galore was a kung fu comedy that pitted a Chinese kung fu mystical master against a Japanese ninja mystical master. Going along for the ride were two buddies who made their living scamming people, two Japanese siblings on the run from their murderous ninja clan, and a female ghost looking for a husband.Lu Xing and Fat Chicken travel from town to town pretending to exorcise demons and expel ghosts. When Lu accepts a case to rid a house of a ghost, he and FC end up with more than they bargained for. A friend of Lu’s father secretly helps the boys out when the ghost gets the upper hand. Later, when the ghost attaches herself to them, they realize they need Lin Ching Yan’s tutelage and he takes them on as apprentices. At the same time, two siblings arrive in China running from the ninja clan they abandoned. The ninjas are led by a powerful purveyor of the dark arts. A no holds barred, mystical, magical showdown is on the horizon.
Lo Lieh was often relegated to bad guy roles, here he played the good guy for a change as the bumbling idiots’ sifu. The first part of the film with Chin Siu Ho and Chiang Kam hamming it up as the comedic duo was trying for me. Even when the bodies started dropping, they were relentlessly clueless. Hwang Jang Lee, another actor often stuck with villain roles, played the Japanese sorcerer. Yeung Ching Ching actually held her own as the ninja on the run, Junko.
The fight choreography encompassed a lot of acrobatics, trampolines, and wire work. Chin Siu Ho was fun to watch, even when the moves made no sense. Low budget 1980’s special effects were used along with smoke and fireworks. The grand finale pulled out all the stops with Chinese Opera heroes and gods versus Japanese Noh/Kabuki characters. I can honestly say, that was something I hadn’t seen before.
Ghosts Galore was not a great movie, but they did try to do something different. I am not a fan of most kung fu comedies and the bad imitations of Jackie Chan wore thin very quickly. This film was a bit of an oddball and misnamed as I don’t think two innocuous ghosts make for “galore.” Only for fans of the genre or actors. I watched it for Lo Lieh. I don’t regret it, but I won’t remember much of it either.
2 October 2026
Trigger warnings: Bare female breasts in a rather long kama sutra scene with ancient, painted porn. Also a long scene with a male full moon.
Dubbing notes: As the film was in Mandarin, some of the Cantonese speaking actors were dubbed badly. Or they hadn’t finished the script and dubbed over dialogue in some scenes.
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"What is this? Stranger Things?"
Agent from Above was an entertaining if uneven drama between good and evil, heaven and hell, with humans smack dab in the middle of the conflict.The Heavenly Third Prince (aka Ne Zha) and Hell’s Demon King Vasavatti once battled in the Human Realm causing countless mortal casualties. New rule! Immortals can now only use human proxies to work in the human realm. Han Chieh is one such agent from above who does the bidding of the 3rd Prince. Empowered with special abilities and magical pogs, he beats on or destroys demons and ghosts. Vasavattie has his own emissaries, Chen Chi Sha and another helper lurking in the shadows. Vasavattie seeks to return to the human realm in order to devour and then rule the human and heavenly realms. Only Han Chieh with his mortal and immortal friends stand between Hell’s Demon King and the humans.
What I liked:
~~There was nothing much new to the story, but the episodes were engaging and moved quickly.
~~The acting was satisfactory, some performances were stronger than others.
~~Surprisingly, the CGI/special effects were pretty good for a drama.
~~Supernatural fights utilized humans with their specialized weapons and creepy, ghostly critters as well as ghosts.
~~The creature of the week episodes evolved into the central overall plot.
What made me go hmmmm…
~~The police department seemed to completely accept that other worldly creatures were at work in the city and that Han was an agent from above with special abilities.
~~I know why the writers included Ye Zhi, but her inclusion really didn’t make much sense after her family’s involvement was cleared up.
~~If you like or dislike the female lead, you’ll be okay. She’s in the first few episodes and then disappears until near the end. She wasn’t the only one. The police officer seemed important, then not so much, and then important. The 3rd Prince was the same, he appeared and disappeared intermittently.
What didn’t work as well:
~~Plot points, maybe due to translation issues, became muddled at times. And certain elements were left at loose ends. Along with the appearing and disappearing, non-ghost characters, the story just didn’t feel like it was tightly written, more like different people wrote each episode and then hoped everything tied together well.
~~The pervert ghost. Yeah, no. Not even for comedy relief.*
To sum up:
I actually enjoyed this drama overall and binged the heck out of it. I would also be willing to watch a S2 and I can’t say that about a lot of dramas. The story and editing had some hiccoughs, but it looked good, the acting was good enough, and there was always something shiny or ghostly green to watch next. Basically, Agent from Above met my bottom-line standard---it was entertaining.
“Magic can’t defeat spiritual power.
Spiritual power can’t beat karma.
And karma can’t defeat a wish.
So, a person with a wish is strongest of all.”
29 September 2026
Trigger warnings: Suicide. Child murder. Porn in the background of an episode. A pervert ghost who gropes women. Snakes. Smoking. CGI bird killed.
*Grown-up talk following---a pervy ghost, one who lurks in women’s bathrooms and gropes women is not funny. Contrary to what Han said, the ghost was bad. No woman being subjected to groping should be the comedic moment. Maybe it’s funny to guys, but ask any woman if they think a strange man feeling them up would be considered funny. Big nope. Had to bump my score down just for that pervy character.
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"Do you ever feel like you're the only one left in the world?"
After October was a short film showing how one young man wanted less time to live and another wanted more.A young man returns home to die, having lost everyone he cared about and believing he has nothing left to live for. He picks a scenic spot with a lake and mountain views. Feeling utterly alone he is surprised by the arrival of an old friend. The friend tells him he has one day to live and desperately wishes for more. The friend is concerned about what awaits him after death and whether he will become a ghost.
This short film had potential, but lacked details that would have enhanced the story. What devastating thing had happened to the young man? What caused the breakup two years ago? What mysterious illness keeps to a schedule and lets a person behave perfectly normally within hours of death?
Too often people determined to end their lives suffer from more than just a passing thought. While this short film tried to give a simple answer, life isn’t always that easy. The short was filmed in a beautiful location with two beautiful actors, it just lacked a deeper insight that might have made it more poignant.
“Time will bring everything into our lives. Time will take everything from our lives, as well.”
24 September 2026
Trigger warning: Suicidal thoughts
Spoiler note below:
***
I’m not sure dumping another tragedy and loss into the lap of the young man would do much healing for him. I’m actually surprised he didn’t walk right into the lake afterwards as depressed as he was. The ending was too trite and simplistic for me.
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"It's all for the sake of survival"
At 50 episodes, to say I was trepidatious about Strategist Kanbe would be an understatement. 50 episodes of strategizing, political intrigue, and civil war sounded exhausting. I kept waiting for the lull, the deadly repetitions, but they didn’t come for the most part. Turns out I ate it up with a spoon, becoming deeply invested in Team Kanbe.Here is where I usually give a brief synopsis of the drama. I have over 100 pages of notes, so that’s not really possible for a wordy person like me. Suffice to say, this drama began with Kuroda Kanbe as a child and showed his evolution into one of the best strategists in Japan until his death. His service was both highly desired and feared. The action took place during the Sengoku Era of civil wars and political unrest. Kanbe’s family served the most fickle, sniveling lord in the land, Lord Kodera Masamoto, making life difficult for Kanbe and his father before him. Kanbe would have to learn his skills quickly as two rival powers vied for supremacy with every clan having to pick a side. Family and friends would find themselves on opposite sides, fighting to the death.
What I liked:
“Kanbe knows the future too well.”
I enjoyed Okada Junichi’s performance, even when the director leaned too heavily into the same close-ups. Kanbe was a fascinating character who valued life and always sought solutions that minimized casualties. He learned when to move quickly and when to patiently wait. His strongest desire was to unify the country and end the warring era and making of monsters. Whenever he could, he turned enemies into if not friends, allies. He tried to maximize not only his life but everyone around him. There were also terrible situations where he had to make difficult decisions for the survival of the Kuroda. My only complaint about this portrayal was that there were times he was too angelic, forgiving too easily and felt like historical white washing.
Team Kanbe: Papa Kuroda, Uncle Kuroda, Zensuke, Kuroemon, and Tahei. The latter three, and the actors who portrayed them were delightful as the loyal and competent vassals. I could have used more of them. Every scene with Kuroda Mototaka (Shibata Kyohei) was a gold star moment. I wish Papa Kuroda could have lived forever.
It was interesting to see how Oda, played by the charismatic Eguchi Yosuke, turned the samurai hierarchy on its head by promoting a sandal warmer and later an unemployed ronin causing the status quo to bristle. And when said sandal warmer made his way to the top with help from Strategist Kanbe, like those before him, he stopped listening to criticism, eradicating anyone who could be a threat-real or imagined. As peace was within their grasps, the rulers widened their targets and sought to conquer other countries instead of investing in peace and prosperity for their citizens. It’s difficult to have the powerful echelon built on being a war machine and then not have a war to fight. The attention could once again stray inwards. The drama didn’t give short shrift to the two disastrous Korean (Joseon) wars.
Ibu Masato as the cagey tea master, Rikyu, ever ready with a cracked bowl of tea and pithy remonstration or bit of advice.
Competent and influential women: Teru, Kanbe’s loyal wife armed with supportive words, a shove forward, or a weapon to defend her keep. The other wives who helped their men succeed-Ohne (Oda’s wife), One (Hideyoshi’s wife), Dashi (Araki’s wife), and Okon (sniveling Lord Kodera’s too good for him wife). Lady Yodo was a schemer, but her portrayal was lacking.
The things that made me go hmmm…
The drama did the best it could at the time with the budget they had of portraying grand armies and battles in small contained spaces to make them appear bigger. But I could almost hear the fight choreographer yelling at the extras who died at the front to run around to the back to be killed again.
I know it was historically accurate but some characters had up to four name changes, many at least two. That was hard to track with a huge cast. Characters were added throughout the drama for further confusion. If they could have stuck with consistently using either a character’s given name or family name it would have helped.
There wasn’t enough Vaseline in Japan to spread on the camera lens to make the mid-thirties actors look 16. Though they did try at times with the addition of gauzy light.
What didn’t work as well:
There were several actors who overacted leaving bite marks all over the scenery. There was so much shouting that gobs of spit pooled in their beards and mustaches or collided with dust motes hanging in the air. And I thought English was the spittingest language. There were a few of the younger actors who weren’t as strong as the veterans.
The wigs were awful. Camera angles above the partially bald heads revealing the crumpled fabric and wig glue/tape didn’t help.
I admit to having battle and death bed scene fatigue by episode 49. Not everyone deserved a long death scene. Just let them die already.
Even with a few reservations, this drama flew by. I found it deeply compelling and couldn’t wait to queue up the next episode. It’s not a drama for everyone. You have to enjoy political intrigue, jockeying for power, protracted methodical strategizing, and yes, some repetitious behavior due to the historical situations. Understandably, that’s not everyone’s jam.
Strategist Kanbe lived in a dangerous time where words, failures, inopportune political alliances, even successes, could mean death. Kanbe reveled in the adrenaline and the game willing to take great risks to be a king/shogun maker. The only problem being, kings don’t like having someone around who can see the future too well and carry the sin of being ungreedy. Staying alive could be the most harrowing strategy of all. If you enjoy historical dramas, this might be one to try.
“Nothing is scarier than an ungreedy man.”
7 September 2026
Traditional historical disclaimer: This is not a history I am overly familiar with so I have no idea if everything was properly told. It seemed to hit the main marks of the times. Oftentimes in dramatizations, characters are excluded or combined, some areas are glossed over or enhanced. I only review for entertainment purposes.
Spelling Note: I chose to spell Kanbe’s name as it is written in the title though the subtitles used Kanbei and another spelling shows Kanbee.
Trigger: bug eating
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Min Jae leaves his rural town for Seoul promising Eun Ji he will return in a year when the snow falls again. But Min Jae forgets all about Eun Ji and joins a gang. When that doesn’t pan out he takes on work as a gigolo. Five years later he runs into Eun Ji scarcely recognizing her. When she brushes him off, he tracks her down and discovers she is the mistress of an evil colonel. The two decide to flee together but Colonel Cho has other plans for Min Jae.
That first hour of this film was agonizing. The acting was awful and the story was patchworked together. The director must have decided that rain and snow were powerful emotional indicators, so one or the other was nearly always falling. A comedic side story was included with two warring men volunteering to be on the bus to the Samchung Revival Camp. Of course, Min Jae ended up on the bus involuntarily. The camp was renowned for its brutal treatment of prisoners being “re-educated” so it was not surprising that Min Jae was constantly being tortured.
The biggest problem I had with Mr. Butterfly was not even the overly dramatic acting, music and story. Min Jae hadn’t given Eun Ji a thought for five years and suddenly he was ready to die for her. Both he and Eun Ji made stupid, disastrous decisions. Not unlike the Butterfly Lovers or Romeo and Juliet, you just want to tell the characters, “Hey, guys, why don’t you stop and think things through first.” But that wouldn’t have resulted in dire situation after dire situation with all the accompanying emotional crises. If you enjoy melodramatic tragedy interlaced with slapstick comedy and dated acting, this might be one to try, otherwise better to make like a butterfly and flutter away from it.
18 August 2026
Trigger warnings: Physical abuse, sexual abuse, torture, smoking.
Butterfly note: The prisoners commented on butterflies being a weak species. I beg to differ with them. The Monarch butterflies migrate over 2000mi/3200km each year, braving weather, predators, cars, food scarcity, and all manner of danger. Sounds pretty badass to me!
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Could have been better and shorter
Raw Courage starred Cheng Pei Pei and Yueh Hua who were tasked with protecting the infant Crown Prince after the Ming Emperor was once again deposed. Director Lo Wei began the film with an army and ended it with a whimper.As the palace burns with the overthrow of Emperor Jian Wen, he entrusts his infant son to the Black Dragon leader. Rebel forces attack the Black Dragon and he is forced to send his daughter Hsiu Yi and surviving disciple Chin with the child to his brother the White Dragon far away. As they leave the duo are saved by Mo Wen Tien aka the Old Beggar. He gives them contacts to help on their journey. The first and most important is Fei Yun who ends up being their guide through the harrowing checkpoints. The little band is pursued by Yen Tsang and his army and the fearsome Old Monster.
I’m a huge fan of Cheng Pei Pei and love to watch her swing her sword while the stunt men go flying. This was not one of her stronger roles. Most of her dialogue centered on her asking Fei Yun, “what do you think we should do?” Wu Fung’s Chin was stuck with being the jealous older “brother.” Yueh Hua had the most fun as the easy going Beggar disciple guiding the two neophytes through treacherous territory. Tien Feng’s villain was poorly drawn and wasn’t that interesting. Lee Sau Kei’s blue-faced Monster had potential but not enough screen time.
The fights consisted of swinging swords. Aside from a trident and a weapon that looked like a garden weeder, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Poor Pei Pei fought with a baby on her back throughout the film. Three against an army over and over became wearisome as there was nothing to focus the eyes upon. Unlike 70’s films, there was no spewing blood or flying limbs. The bodies certainly stacked up, but most did so bloodlessly. I found myself watching the background characters during the fights. The extra fighters were at least given things to do beside hopping back and forth like some films. Though humorously one killed character pinned to a stone wall with a sword kept moving around during the fights. Poor guy had to be uncomfortable.
The film had the Shaw Brothers polish to it with quality sets and outdoor scenery. My biggest complaint with the film was the pacing and its length. Despite the chemistry of Pei Pei and Yueh Hua, the film dragged badly. The sense of urgency and danger dissipated due to the lack of stakes and repetition of conflicts. The intrepid trio inexplicably escaped overwhelming odds on numerous occasions to the point even for a martial arts movie that it made no sense. When I found myself focusing more on the stuntmen than Pei Pei, there was a problem. Having said all that there were entertaining moments so if you are a fan of any of the actors or enjoy martial arts films from this era it is one to try, just best to keep your expectations low. As always, graded on a kung fu curve.
7 August 2026
Trigger warning: Brief nudity, non-sexual.
Photo bomb note: I loved that during one scene while the trio paused on their horses, a dragonfly buzzed in front of the camera! No take 2!
Will someone please think of the children note! : The poor baby cried at all the inopportune moments during the early parts of the film and then went silent for the rest of the film. Probably because the poor thing was rarely fed or diaper changed. Proper care of a child was not a priority for the film, just an accessory for Pei Pei's back and something to alert the evil doers of the good guys' location.
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"Nothing happens"
Lucky Chan Sil was a charming “nothing happens” slice of mid-life crisis. Directed by Kim Cho Hee, there were times it felt a little like an inside baseball film as Chan Sil was the producer for an indie auteur much as Kim had been the producer for director Hong Sang Soo in real life between 2008-2015.Lee Chan Sil’s life is turned upside-down when the indie director she has worked for as a producer for years dies suddenly of a heart attack. The people who had praised her work now want nothing to do with her, belittling her as unimportant to the work of the genius Ji. She moves into a room in a small home owned by an older illiterate landlady. Her flaky actress friend Sophia hires her to be a housekeeper which is where Chan Sil meets Sophia’s French tutor, Kim Young. Young happens to be a short film director who tutors to pay the bills. As Chan Sil spends time with Young, she begins to wonder if she is falling in love or merely lonely. Leslie Cheung’s ghost visits wearing his Days of Being Wild underwear offering snippets of advice.
Several times the movie talked about films where “nothing happens” and that often when it looked like nothing was happening there was actually something profound quietly at work. I cheered when Chan Sil said that Ozu Yasujiro was her favorite director, another creator of “nothing happens” films. When Young minimalized Ozu’s work, preferring Christopher Nolan, I echoed her reaction!
So, what did happen in this film? Chan Sil was forced to look at her life and determine her priorities. She had spent her youth dedicated to making films and had lost out on love and family. Yet she had also been surrounded by people who enjoyed films as she did. With a little help from the ghost of Leslie Cheung, Chan Sil turned inward, digging into who she really was and what would make her fulfilled and happy. Old friendships were rekindled and new ones began. I loved the ending and thought it fit perfectly with the mood of the film. If you enjoy films that appear to be lower budget where “nothing happens”, this might be one to try.
“Flowers return with the seasons,
If only we could, too”
3 August 2026
Things that make you go hmmm….Notes: Several of the tags for this film would suggest that Chan Sil was a basket case, which was not the case. She was having to regroup after she lost her job but it was hardly a mental health crisis. Currently, the genres are Romance and Melodrama of which this film was neither. And Leslie was either Supernatural or CS was indeed seeing things. I prefer the former explanation which definitely added some whimsy to the otherwise realistic story.
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Cho’s descent begins in a subway restroom practicing his sales pitch for instant glue with men lined up at the urinals behind him. When luck turns against him, he makes fateful choices in order to eat. Joined by a woman as desperate as he is they feed off each other as their robbery spree escalates.
I wondered what the title Influenza meant and I’m still not sure, but as you watch this film, you’ll see people assaulting each other behind Cho. Like Kurosawa’s layered filming technique, there were layers of lawbreaking and cruelty from the forefront to the back. It was as if a violent, criminal virus was spreading. Even Cho’s one act of altruism likely aided another criminal. It was not all gloom and doom, there were humorous bits. Ahjummas do not give up their money so easily!
Bong’s use of CCTV as the only means of storytelling with a smidge of sound was an interesting one. The ever-vigilant surveillance never slowed the crime pandemic seeping over the city. Only when the nefarious couple took their brutal bender too far did civilization step in and draw a line. Once again in a Bong Joon Ho film, society failed both the victims and people driven to perpetrate their crimes, this time silently witnessed by Big Brother’s omnipresent eye.
28 July 2026
Ratings note: I was torn deciding on the ratings and gave it a slight bump for creativity.
Indelicate note: There were numerous men at urinals if that is upsetting.
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Adopt, don't shop!
Dog Days was a sweet, heartwarming-if predictable-tail of people being made more human by the love of a dog. The sight of four-legged sunshine aka a Golden Retriever, was enough to help me stick with this film through a ruff intro. (I promise to keep the puns to a minimum.)Landlord Min Sang hates dogs, dog poo, and the veterinary clinic renting space in his building. When he’s not threatening to kick Jin Yeong out, he works at a company attempting to land the bid for a new resort going up. Retired architect Min Seo lives alone, her only company her dog Wanda. A delivery boy becomes entwined in her life when she has a health issue. Jeong Ah and Seon Yong have recently adopted a little girl named Ji Yoo. They are concerned with how to make their new family work as Ji Yoo keeps to herself. A band has lost their lead singer and Hyeon his girlfriend when she left for a job in Africa. All Hyeon has left is her Golden Retriever named Sting and her ex-boyfriend Daniel who has visitation rights.
Ostensibly this film highlights the roles dogs play in our lives and the value of adopting them. But surprisingly, they also showed the joy of adopting a human child, something rarely talked about in Korean entertainment (at least positively) as adoption isn’t common for a variety of reasons. Child actress Yoon Chae Na once again convinced me that Korean child actors are the gold standard. She gave a heart tugging performance. Kim Yoon Jin was believable as the mother seeking to connect to the little angel that had come into their lives.
Aside from the adoption story I really enjoyed the aging architect played by Youn Yuh Jung and her relationship with the delivery boy Jin Woo as portrayed by Tang Jun Sang. It was a tropey mentor bit, but well executed. I judged the character Hyeon rather harshly early on when he only grudgingly took the Golden in and made numerous mistakes. Fortunately, they quickly rectified those issues. It’s always a delight to see Kim Seo Hyung in a lighter role and she was sublime as the veterinarian with a heart of gold and questionable hygiene habits.
While the film dipped its paws into doggy melodrama it managed to avoid pandering for a tear fest. There were forced resolutions and too quick personality turnarounds. The best moments were the ones that were organic to the story and felt natural. The humor was generally gentle and the dog poop jokes were kept to a minimum. They did showcase the desperate need for adoption to save dogs lives advocating to adopt not shop. And of course, they also presented how rewarding adopting a child can be. Though I struggled with the first part of the film, I found it to be entertaining overall. Some stories were stronger than others. Could I recommend this film to a dog lover? Pawsitively.
24 July 2026
Trigger warnings: For sensitive dog lovers-Three dog in danger scenes-one illness, one lost pup running down a crowded street, and a euthanasia scene. Unlike another dog film I’ve watched, thankfully no physical abuse of the animals.
Rating note: This would normally be a 7.5 on my rating scale as the beginning was slow, but Sting/Floyd and Wanda won me over, bumping the score up by .5
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"You don't have the slightest notion of what war is like!"
By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him tried hard to be a film about the futility of violence yet could only accomplish that task through buckets of blood and a high body count. Set in postwar Japan, instead of the Crips vs The Bloods, it was the Korean gangsters vs…a doctor.Dr. Amamiya recognizes a traffic victim who is rolled into his small clinic. The man’s face causes him to remember a difficult, desperate time from the past. After he returned from the war, Amamiya wanted nothing to do with killing or violence. The only problem being, a Korean gang was determined to take over the street market of which he was the owner. The gang took what they wanted, killed who they wanted, with no consequences from the police or government. Amamiya could be the only thing standing between the people being threatened and the gangsters determined to eliminate them.
The film had flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks. Dr. Amamiya had become disillusioned with the government and people in general after realizing he’d been lied to during the war, made worse by the lives he’d taken. He wanted the cycle of violence and death to end even as he was faced with it every day. When his brother came to town on a break from university, the stakes went way up as the way out narrowed.
This film had the look of a lower budget film with the performances hit or miss. There was a great deal of exaggerated acting which could be taxing to watch. Ando Noboru gave a convincing performance as the doctor with a very particular skill set unrelated to the medical field. Coincidentally, in real life, Ando had been a gang leader before he entered the entertainment field. Amamiya’s love interest, Maki, was always covered in sweat and screaming, obsessively clinging to him. Not exactly the epitome of a cool-headed nurse. Of course, the good doctor didn’t mind having a nooner in the clinic which wasn’t particularly professional.
For a film with gangsters, it incorporated more issues with post war societal and political upheaval than I would have expected. What interested me, despite the overt racism toward the Japanese Koreans, was the Korean gang. Japanese Koreans were not often the focus of many Japanese films. The Japanese looked down on the Koreans and the Koreans felt like their time of being dominated was over. Payback was coming. There was no lack of criticism for the war and the repercussions from it. Amamiya was criticized by multiple people for not choosing violence while his brother was considered a hero for confronting the large gang despite his spectacular failure. The yakuza were even too afraid to take on the Korean gang. The film used one of my least favorite tropes with a hero that refused to fight until the body count forced him to. Another issue was that women were not shown in the most flattering light. Maki was a basket case. The writers had the Korean woman Gye do something that lowered my score. For all time, no sane woman asks a man to rape her.
By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him started out slow paced for a gangster film yet was also deeper than most. I didn’t appreciate the sexploitation and old school machismo acting. However, the bloody ultimate showdown did not disappoint. Though it is flawed, if you enjoy old school gangster flicks, this might be one to try.
26 June 2026
Trigger warnings: Sexual Assault. Sexual situations. Bloody, violent fight using guns and katanas.
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"You were used by others for most of your life, haven't you had enough?"
Return to Dust was a story about Fate bringing two unloved and unwanted middle-aged people together in a poor rural community. Resigned to their lonely and meager existence, an act born out of callousness opened up a new world they’d never dreamed of.Ma You Tie aka Fourth Brother aka Iron Ma is coerced into marrying Cao Gui Ying. Both are past the normal age of marrying. Iron is largely an unpaid worker for his older brother. Gui Ying lives in a shed behind her brother’s house and is regularly beaten. She suffers from a physical disability, infertility, and incontinence which has taken her off the marriage market. The two quietly wed and move into an abandoned house. Together they farm the land and gently take care of each other. Tiny acts of kindness and generosity cause the newlyweds to slowly come out of their shells. They begin to lean on each other, surprised that they could experience companionship and contentment so late in life.
While Iron and Gui Ying showed compassion to people, animals, even plants, such was not the case for the people surrounding them. Their families were neglectful and cruel. The local businessman exploited the old peasants working the land refusing to pay them the money he owed, shorting them when their crops came in, always offering one excuse after another. When it turned out Iron shared the same rare “Panda” blood type of the capitalist patriarch, the farmer was called upon to give the wealthy man regular transfusions. As more villagers abandoned farming and moved to the cities it created vacant homes. The government implemented a new beautification policy offering money for the destruction of those houses. City dwellers returned to grab the cash regardless of who had set up housekeeping in the houses, be it people or swallows. The caring couple had to move ahead of the bulldozers twice, finally resolving to build their own mud brick home. Having spent a lifetime being taken advantage of and never having anything handed to them, Iron and Gui Ying simply took the slights in stride.
Oh, but Butterfly, what was the plot? None really. It was an exquisitely shot and scored slice of life about two outcasts diligently working the land and becoming utterly devoted to each other along the way. The villagers even commented on how Iron doted on his “peculiar” wife. It felt and looked very Zhang Yi Mou’ish. And just like ZYM, the director and film landed in trouble, too. *
Return to Dust was a tender, lowkey love story with two social outcasts that felt deeper and more authentic in comparison to grand passionate romances. Iron and Gui Ying may not have had children but they adored their bell wearing donkey (so did I!) and dutifully looked after their little chicks. No debt was left unpaid. For Iron, “The soil doesn’t despise us,” unfortunately, people weren’t always as reliable.
25 June 2026
Trigger warning: Suicide
*Those darned censors notes:
The film was yanked from being shown in China for reasons unknown. It was later released with an alternate ending. What was so offensive? The peasants were hard working, resourceful, and living a simple life without complaint. Perhaps it was the government’s house destruction policy that ended up harming the most vulnerable. Also, the most impoverished were offered low rent apartment housing. Iron wondered where he would keep his livestock. Illiterate and older, how was he supposed to support himself and eat without access to the land? I learned about the film being pulled when I went looking for answers regarding the ending. The last line of dialogue was contrary to the rest of the film and the previous scenes. Apparently, the original ending was replaced with a more acceptable ending to the censors even though it made no sense.
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"Hatred is a creature with sharp teeth that bites when you least expect it"
Trinity of Shadows is a misnomer. This drama was more shadow than light, with far more sides than three. Nearly everyone was walking around with their personal pain bubble eating away at them. Not your typical serial killer story, but not always coherently laid out either.Hsu Tzu Wei is a no-nonsense squad captain with a dark past. She unleashes hell on any man that dares to bully or harm a woman. Chen Chia Hao has been on the force for three years, he harbors dark secrets that motivate him to investigate. Yang Chi Hsiao is a city councilor running for re-election. Despite his constant battle against corruption, he too, hides a painful secret. A closed case links the three with a dangerous presence who has plans for all of them.
This drama had plenty of twists and turns, slowly unfolded to keep the audience in the dark. All the major characters who graced the screen were in desperate need of therapy. There was no soft place for any of them to land, and instead of seeking out healthy relationships they were drawn to each other like a magnet to steel. Impulse control was in short supply to be sure. The bad guy pulling all the strings desperately wanted someone to blame but never looked inward to see his own role in his self-destruction.
I don’t want to go into the story or even my praise or concerns too much so as not to spoil anything. By the tenth episode it did feel like the script was running off the rails. The scenarios became more convoluted. Not that I’m against that, as the melodrama and pain levels were ramped up to impossible levels by the last shot. I would have preferred a few more questions answered and the ending to be clearer so that I didn’t have to go back and watch it twice. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a drama filled with so many overtly traumatized characters suffering from deeply festering hatred. Just like dead bodies-that hatred was bound to come to the surface just when they thought it was dead and buried.
22 June 2026
Trigger Warnings:
Sexual situations. A rather graphically implied sexual assault that was disturbing. Again, heavily suggested by word and camera angles--hacked up bodies. Smoking. Suicide. Torture. Drug use. Sex workers.
Major Spoiler Comments Below:
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Seriously, major spoilers below
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Abandon all hope if you have not watched this drama
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Finally warning----
Through the whole drama I really worried that Hsu would end up being the killer from 23 years ago. But even after the final scenes, Yang seemed convinced her mom did it. Hsu was willing to turn herself in for Dong’s death (why????? He was a murderer, stalker, and was threatening them) and have her mom turn herself in for the murder 23 years ago. The mom left after the murder instead of staying with Hsu or taking her to Hong Kong with her which would have seemed more logical if Hsu had been the killer.
Hsu and Yang had to move into the godforsaken house because the body was buried in the yard. Talk about eternal torment. I also wondered if her mom was underground as well, but guess she got an Uber out of the house before the cops arrived, or more likely Dong’s car. Whose pink purse did Hsu throw away? I didn’t see anyone carry it in the present or past. Who wants to bet that Hsu and Yang either end up a double suicide or a murder-suicide? Or she’s institutionalized because it looked like she C-r-a-c-k-e-d. Yang kept yammering on like nothing was wrong. These people were very good at burying bodies and feelings.
And finally, not sure Chen Chia Hao should have been listed as a main character since he was off-screen after episode 10. Talk about burying feelings and bodies! Liu Kuan Ting is only 2 years younger than Sandrine Pinna, why did she keep referring to him as a kid instead of just rookie? Everyone has their kink---Chen hooked up with sex workers, Hsu and Yang always seemed to do the deed in front of windows.
This was one dark, demented drama with several killers. Who could ever look at a suitcase the same way?
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