MAI

Watching that trailer felt like binging a whole 3 season show in mere minutes! There is so much happening it almost gave me whiplash... So confused, so intrigued, but also so down for this!

Excuse me, since when is it okay to sexualise victims of sexual assault? Why the heck is the director portraying Alexa-- in the movie itself but also in the plot synopsis and on ALL of the movie posters-- as an object of sexual desire? For a movie that revolves around child molestation and domestic abuse I find it quite unfitting that the director has chosen for such a blatant display of the male gaze. We are meant to feel sympathy and anguish for Alexa, a young adult who is trying to deal with the unwanted advances of her step-father, but instead we are forced to endure repeated camera shots that linger suggestively on her body. How are we as an audience any better than the creep that we are meant to despise? Besides that, this movie presents us with a mediocre plot, shallow dialogue, and an abrupt ending. Even the game of mahjong-- which is featured in the very title of the movie and could have been used as an interesting symbolic plot device-- remains an afterthought. I'd expected some type of high-tension plot where different secrets would coincide and come to light but, instead, we get no resolve whatsoever. What a disappointing watch, really.

Gosh, I really want to watch this! We've been waiting for a year straight now...

A beautiful, heart-warming, and fun movie about the search for identity. Although the story definitely has its flaws (I could especially have done with less drunken party shots-- we get it, the party is HELLA fun-- what else is there to see?) the overall message of self-empowerment and Sharon Cuneta's great acting made up for the story's slow pace. The plot basically revolves around recently divorced (and immediately replaced by a younger model) Carmela in her search for confidence as she learns to embrace her single self. The movie offers a slight commentary on gender, motherhood, and the societal expectations that come with it but, above all, it demonstrates the beauty of finding joy in misery. In a sense, this movie turns the 'coming-of-age' genre on its head by, for once, zooming in on the life experiences of a person who remains often invisible in film: the middle-aged woman.

Decided to watch this against better judgement. But, like everyone has said, this movie completely squandered all of its potential. Although we do start off with an interesting plot, the motivations and actual emotions of the characters are not really explored, and it makes the eventual climax feel completely random. Wish I would've skipped this one.

This could have been a great social commentary on loneliness, acceptance, and trauma/mental health in a society where these issues can be heavily stigmatised. There was ample material to go into that direction-- we are presented with elements of consumerism, religion, and marriage/family relations that the characters use as a means to fill an emotional void-- but, unfortunately, the story failed to deliver anything meaningful. The characters are flat caricatures without substance and the actual plot remains thin. Definitely not Uchida Eiji's best work.

Yet another important social commentary on the grave human rights violations and the war on drugs that haunt the Philippines. Drawing from reality, the director tells a story about the erasure and extra-juridical murders of people who question the regime's power and legitimacy-- a message that can only adequately be addressed with the horror genre. However, besides its important message, this movie itself was an absolute drag. Sure, there is enough eerie background music, creepy moving wallpapers, and lack of proper lighting, but that is all that the movie is willing to depict. I get that the director has tried to play with the character's feelings of false security and disorientation but those emotions never matter to us as viewers as we also don't have a clue what's going on either. We know little to nothing about the characters, their relationship, or about the dystopian world in which these characters find themselves. There is literally no space for us to get invested in the story so, in the end, it felt like I just ended up watching 1.5 hours of people running around in darkness, complete with questionable CGI.

Was wondering the same... But it doesn't seem to be. I can't even find the raw version, unfortunately. I don't think we'll be able to watch this anytime soon!

In Japanese cinema, where the tension between elderly respect, compliance, and an overall desire for subversion and rebellion is a common theme, Love and Other Cults is yet another sharp-witted addition to the genre. As an coming off age story, this story does shows not only the tension between generations but it also occasionally also reverses their roles, depicting the teenagers as more responsible and sensible than their adult counterparts.
It is through the eyes of Ryota, who is probably the most realistic (but boring) character in this movie--as he lives rather conventionally-- that we watch his crush Ai and his delinquent male friends go through the motions of life: messing up, bouncing back, and failing again. Their choices are representative of a larger teenage quest for belonging, identity, and autonomy-- all of which Uchida Eiji depicts as distinctly gendered. However, the movie barely offers actual commentary on these young adult experiences and it chooses instead to depict the burdens simply as an integral rite of passage to adulthood (which may be either a missed opportunity or merely an ironic directorial choice).
An overall interesting project if you are more familiar with Japanese culture and cinema. The strength of the movie lies definitely in its beginning and end, and the way these acts are tied together quite cleverly, but the bulk of the movie can be a bit of a drag. While I ended enjoying much of the visual absurdity, I found the humour to be quite distinctly Japanese, so much of its nuance went over my Western head.

Omg, well, that explanation makes sense actually! Can't believe I was breaking my head over this, trying to think of a sensible explanation for that mysterious title (minty flavour? chewing gum? two pieces of gum chewed out by the world??) and that it just turned out to be a wordplay of all things lol! I guess I was definitely thinking waaay to much into it, haha!

Okay, yay, thanks for the feedback! ☺️

The comment section is suspiciously quiet... how is it so far?

I suppose you're right! It would definitely make a lot of sense at least! But then, in my humble opinion, I think this movie would have fared better as a spin-off rather than as an actual stand-alone story. A lack of actual characterisation is fine in side-stories but not so much in an actual movie where the audience still needs to be 'wow-ed' by the plot.

For a story about vampires this definitely lacked its bite. While the movie is an absolute visual feast, the plot is too convoluted to actually function as meaningful social commentary. For a bunch of spoiled rich kids-- which ought to symbolically represent the bloodsucking rich in capitalist Taipei-- we get surprisingly little commentary on social stratification and class inequality. Instead the movie makes an half-hearted attempt at contrasting modern urban life with gradually diminishing indigenous cultures and pre-colonial tribes (which apparently only deserve one concluding statement about younger generations needing to do a "better job" than their predecessors). It almost seems like the director didn't have enough courage to be outspoken about the message of his own film. The same problem occurs with the characters: each time we get a glimpse of their pasts, the plot refuses to delve deeper, leaving us without any chance of knowing what goes on in the heads of our wealthy youth or how their experiences relate to a larger Taiwanese culture. It doesn't really help that most of the cast is quite stiff in delivering their lines either. This was such a highly anticipated release but it fell completely flat for me.

Interesting premise but not entirely original either. The pacing was a bit off (the first 10 minutes of the movie are basically one large info dump while the rest of the movie takes a slow-burn approach) but besides its somewhat predictable plot, this was a pretty solid investigation story.

I was a bit more confused about the visuals of this movie. The set looks visually interesting but also occasionally seems to also go through a bit of an identity crisis. Because of Chinese censorship (which requires that all sci-fi stories have no connection to reality) we are introduced with large, futuristic architecture and an almost dreamlike set, an aesthetic that basically gets abandoned halfway into the movie. In this second half we encounter a more decorative, baroque style (e.g. the opera building and an idyllic town house) which, to me, seems like an odd contrast (I don't quite see the necessity of these sets apart from for the heck of it). I don't know if this is intentional or whether that visual schizophrenia is just a interest of the director (since Leste Chen's obsession with spiraling stairs haunts every single one of his movies) but I'd personally preferred he'd just stuck to one aesthetic.

The movie's strength is definitely how it depicts the struggle for survival, the stress of living beneath the poverty line, and the desire for human connection with such authenticity. In the story, we follow two main characters (and their romantic partners) as they go through the motions of life, trying to cope with their crippling debt and broken relationships. This all has an air of uncomfortable realness as we are not only presented with (distinctly gendered) tactics of survival but also, occasionally, with hints of a future that could have been. Each of the characters show their individual adaptability and resilience, yet, their actions follow a representative pattern of lies and destruction (and the director/scriptwriter has not made any attempt at redeeming such acts in the slightest). Unfortunately, that strength is also simultaneously the movie's weakness. Because of the shitty characters I found myself rather bored (yet increasingly aggravated). It's a technically good production-- solid actors, a realistic yet daring plot, and a layer of social commentary-- but I just couldn't find myself enjoying this movie. It was just no fun. But, then, neither are the real lives of people dealing with these issues in increasingly stratifying modern Korea. The message with which we are left is not meant to be hopeful: money makes the world go round after all.

The dude basically does a lot of (heterosexual) BDSM stuff in which he's the sub. I once came across his work on accident and I was definitely NOT prepared to have flashbacks to this movie LOL. One thing is for sure, his acting hasn't improved hahaha.

What the actual heck was that first episode. I have seen amateur film projects that were better than this.

In all seriousness, this series is exceptional at what it tries to accomplish: presenting us with a bizarre, outlandish type of comedy. You'll either love this or hate this with passion. Although, typically, these kind of plots are not really my personal style-- and this one was not the exception-- I could really enjoy the show's cinematography and colour grading. The many visually appealing shots and camera set-ups made it worth it for me.

Was this one large fried chicken ad or what lol