MAI

Gotta say, I didn't expect much, but this show completely exceeded my expectations! Cute, wholesome, and hella funny. It ended up focusing more on typical young-adult themes like personal growth and friendship instead of love (or bromance) but I personally didn't mind. Taiwan truly produces some quality gems.

Maybe I've just seen too many of these movies but the plot was a bit too predicable for me. I'd really love to join the chorus of praise but, in reality, I managed to predict basically every single plot twist. Cinematography is fun, tho, it stayed true to Leste Chen's style and his overall fascination with architecture and Escher.

It's Tilly Birds'? No wonder I liked it 😂

Can't believe that I'm about to say this--because I usually think musical interludes are an absolute waste of screen time-- but Kuea's song was actually good this episode!

I see why this flopped. The acting and CGI were okay but the plot just didn't have enough substance. Literally all of the characters remained one-dimensional. It seemed they'd spent so much time on making the whole shipwreck look impressive that they forgot that special effects alone don't make a movie.

I really enjoyed this one: the camerawork, color grading and the hyperrealistic acting kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Still, I can't actually say with certainty that I understood this story-- the entire thing was a bizarre, psychedelic mind-trip that left much open to interpretation. Were we actually meant to understand this? Was this movie meant to be watched as a social commentary on the cruelties of militarization? Or did the director just enjoy fucking with us? Or maybe this was meant to be a reference to the disappearance of anti-government journalists in the Philippines? I literally have no clue. But it was worth the watch for sure.

This was literally the most boring revenge movie I've ever seen.

A true classic. I think most cultures have some type of folktale centred around the (quite literal) undying devotion and love of a wife for her husband. While this is not particularly my favourite trope, I felt like I just had to watch this simply for its cultural relevance and it's lasting impact it on so many contemporary romance stories. Now I'd love to see this get a LGBTQ+ adaption!

Lol, don't worry, I was just poking fun at the random horror references of this show. I understand full well that there is no real Frankenstein monster in the closet. 😜

On a more positive note, I had to smile at the depiction of the German youth during the very first minutes of the movie. Yup, there is nothing more Berlin than vaping in a public park while dressed in your grungy black, oversized outfit, lol.

Loved it. This was exactly what I imagine the psyche of an Asian Palestinian immigrant/refugee living in Germany would look like if it were to be expressed in film. Quite heavy on the symbolism and narrated with a deep, enthralling voice, this movie almost resembles a dreamscape: images of barren lands, government migration office cubicles, women making kimchi in the streets, and karaoke bars in Chinatown are all familiar cultural signs yet they become alien in the way they are re-arranged and adopt new meanings. The fragments, distorted as they are, are the main character's ways of constructing an identity in a context where he feels physically out of place (and where he always remains the non-Western Other).

I think the film shows, first of all, how one's sexual awakening and love life is entangled with matters much larger than one's own body: it intersects with nationality and race. But secondly-- and this might be the more jarring message-- the movie shows us the ways national governments lay claim to the bodies of its citizens while also managing to hide the traces of (violent) national projects in which these bodies have been the driving tools (like the Israel-Palestine conflict). International politics, according to this second message, is a brutal game of power and seduction.

Did Lian really just pull a Bluebeard with his "you can do anything in this house but open this one myterious door," lol.
What's with the horror references in this show, man. At this point I won't be surprised if you'd tell me next episode will be a reveal of Lian building his own Frankenstein monster in the basement or something 😂

I was just left somewhat confused about why this movie had to be filmed in Thailand. Is it because Pattaya is simply well known for its sex industry and therefore manages to subvert the typical romantic trope that so many other love stories use? Is the setting meant to contrast the deep connection Min Ki and Jae Hee share? If that were the case I would have at least expected to see more of Pattaya's walking street itself because the characters spend most of the movie cloistered in their vacation home (or is this exactly the very irony of the story? I really don't know anymore).

I expected more from this. After watching Kim Hun's previous work One Summer Night-- in which he quite skillfully displayed his talent for symbolism and irony-- I was expecting a story with similar layers and intrigue. Unfortunately this had none of the flair of his previous movie. I caught myself trying to find the symbolism of this story ("I'd swear that stupid backpack represents the toil and emotional hardship he's been carrying!") but, no, this movie was just a straightforward melodrama about two guys living sad, parallel lives: one died as a result of suicide whilst the other one's days are numbered because of a terminal illness. Regardless of what romantic comedies like to preach, this movie leaves us with the bitter reality: love is selfish and it sure as hell can't fix everything.

Oh, dang, I only managed to read your comment just now (it was hidden behind a spoiler tag and I completely overlooked it). I basically reiterated what you had already said. 😂 Good to know we agree, tho!

I don't think I've seen people this fired up since the TharnType era.

Without getting too deep into this discussion about dubcon: what is important to remember in this discussion is that there is no clear-cut boundary between reality and fiction. TV shows represent real life and offer a look into a particular culture but the reversal is also true: reality is influenced by what is shown in the media. Positive and negative portrayals of things/people on screen feed into certain stereotypes in real life. That's why the argument of "it's just fiction" doesn't fly for many people, especially when it comes to the portrayal of LGBTQ+ people in unfavourable ways (since they already have to cope with many negative stereotypes). Simply "not watching" a show doesn't help in this situation because there will be plenty of people who DO watch it, and thereby keep problematic behaviour and tropes alive. It's not an issue of people not liking a series, it is a matter of people being tired of the way that problematic behaviour continues to be excused in society at large.

So, still no subs, huh?

Nothing much happened as we followed the no-nonsense and slightly battered-by-life officer Arroyo and her womanizing partner go on patrol in the streets of Manilla. We mainly watch them catch some petty thieves and underage sex workers, and the rest of the screen-time is filled with Arroyo going through her daily routine. Yet, despite the slow-burn, I still ended up liking this movie for the way the lead actress managed to realistically convey the subdued emotions of a mother who suspects her son has disappeared in the criminal underbelly of the city. As we watch the broken and corrupt justice system through the eyes of this female police officer herself, we can do nothing else but sympathise with her emotions.

Totally agree. I guess his character was created to offer some type of comedic relief since the rest of the plot didn't really allow for that, but the guy felt totally out of place with that weird-ass hipster van.