A peculiar, oddly funny and thought-provoking movie, with many typical themes tropes, and the distinguished provocative style of Bong Joon Ho. Not as gripping and memorable as some of his later works, but still a well-crafted, beautifully filmed story with some timely social criticism through sneering allegories and brilliant black comedy elements.
This based on a true story film is a gripping, utterly sad and psychologically challenging watching experience. Superbly filmed and acted, with an eerie, hauntingly dark atmosphere and some piercing social commentaries and satire on the police prejudice, arrogance and incompetence, it describes the unsuccessful and lacking procedurals of catching a serial killer in an inventive fascinating way, without exploiting the crimes and the victims. Worth every minute of it.
Silent, as its title indicates, subtle, mellow and slow-paced, this indie jmovie tells the story of two wounded -one physically and one mentally disabled- and lonely people. Though the characters' approach of their new reality and the lack of communication was too frustrating and unrealistic sometimes, it helped with the intentional mundane, melancholic tone of the film, but made it feel longer than it actually was.
A peculiar, messy story with no clear message - or too many messages to handle... Little talented cutie pie Seo Yeon Woo (and some nicely filmed scenes) was its only saving grace.
Extremely dark, provocatively twisted, extremely violent. The scenes with the loud silences were the most impressive, fierce and haunting ones. This is a shocking and disturbing revenge story, where everything that could go wrong went very wrong, with outstanding performances in a visually and technically impressive package. Definitely a challenging as well as gripping watch.
With a stellar cast, lavish costumes and settings and an intriguing, full of surprises action-packed story, this patriotic historical adventure set during the Japanese Colonial Rule era is a very entertaining movie that, despite its long duration and its rather confusing start, kept a good pacing throughout. Jun Ji Hyun was the heart and soul and a bad*ss goddess in this!
A unique and heartwarming story about people with disorders and how those can affect their communication with others, their relationships, work and daily lives. With a thoughtful and optimistic approach, though sometimes too bubbly and simplified, it had a refreshingly positive vibe and two nice leads.
An enjoyable, heartwarming down-to-earth family drama, with a nice depiction of a mother-daughter relationship, bickering and bantering. Refreshingly unique women-centered story, with relatable dialogues and relationships, without many typical family drama tropes (except an unnecessary mystery subplot) and a well-balanced mixture of funny and touching scenes. Time well-spent.
Based on reports and testimonies of people directly involved, this drama depicts in a documentaristic, very realistic way the days following the earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the impending nuclear disaster. It shows the politicians and corporate managers with their agendas and hesitation and, most of all, the ordinary people/workers and their determination, doing the best they could do with the little they were given, becoming heroes when all they ever wanted was for them and their families to survive. Without any over-the-top drama, without being emotionally manipulative, but with long silences making more impact that any music or words can make, this was a difficult, extremely heavy and devastatingly sad watch, especially knowing and witnessing from the news this real-life tragedy when it actually happened...
Α rambling and forcefully gloomy social commentary on elderly welfare system, dignity and euthanasia (or mercy killing, as the main lead claims), as well as their overburdened family members acting as their caregivers. With some pacing problems, uneven storytelling of the characters' perspectives, some far-fetched dialogues and some blurry messages, it is not bad but, for a novel adaptation, I was expecting more.
In a world with a rapidly aging population, this beautiful little gem tells the story of an ageing couple who find love and solace towards their twilight years. A compelling, thought-provoking and painfully realistic depiction of the elderly and their place among family and society, their endless efforts to find love and meaning in their lives. Fantastic performances from all four leads, especially from Ni Da Hong and his outstanding character, smooth directing and editing and impressive filming in a heart-warming as well as heart-breaking love story. Highly recommended.
The prequel of Kazama Kimichika's story before he became the legendary cold-blooded instructor of Kyojo series, while he was still an active police officer teaming up with young detectives and training them to become the best investigators, was not as intriguing and intense as its sequels, but it was definitely an entertaining, engaging watch. After all, Kimura Takuya - grey-haired or not - is a charismatic, talented actor that never fails to deliver. Time well-spent.
A tender, affectionate and realistic depiction about a girl's -with a slight cognitive disability- first love story. With a great photography of the beautiful snowy landscapes of Toyama prefecture and a subtle, convincing performance from Sato Miyuki, this is a heartwarming, bittersweet watch.
A quirky, absurd and fast-paced story about an office groundhog week, with all its members stuck in an endless time-loop. Though a bit confusing in the beginning, the cleverly written script, that partly unfolds all those members involvement and reactions, made this chaotic but unique approach an interesting, refreshing watch.
A nuanced, melancholic and bittersweet story of two childhood friends that meet again as adults, and all the 'what ifs' that could have changed their lives and their relationship. Full of yearning, lingering silences, looks, feelings and words left unspoken, this was a deeply moving, intimate and affectionate study on destiny and choices, time and distance, eloquently told, beautifully filmed and acted, with a mesmerizing Yoo Teo, that never fails to deliver. Time well-spent.
With a great cast and a hilariously absurd script with many parody elements and sneering social commentaries within, even themes like politics, elections, cheating and divorcing can be a fun to watch. All characters were flawed and did some very annoying/questionable things, but even so it was fun to watch them and even root for them - especially spoiled, slow-witted and horny Taishi, played beautifully by Matsuzaka Tori. It had some infuriating moments and some repetitiveness towards the end, but overall it was a light, entertaining story.
Beautifully filmed and acted, this is a sad, painful love story of two tormented souls. Many long length films could learn a lesson or two from this short but wholesome gem.
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Not as gripping and memorable as some of his later works, but still a well-crafted, beautifully filmed story with some timely social criticism through sneering allegories and brilliant black comedy
elements.
Superbly filmed and acted, with an eerie, hauntingly dark atmosphere and some piercing social commentaries and satire on the police prejudice, arrogance and incompetence, it describes the unsuccessful and lacking procedurals of catching a serial killer in an inventive fascinating way, without exploiting the crimes and the victims.
Worth every minute of it.
Though the characters' approach of their new reality and the lack of communication was too frustrating and unrealistic sometimes, it helped with the intentional mundane, melancholic tone of the film, but made it feel longer than it actually was.
Little talented cutie pie Seo Yeon Woo (and some nicely filmed scenes) was its only saving grace.
The scenes with the loud silences were the most impressive, fierce and haunting ones.
This is a shocking and disturbing revenge story, where everything that could go wrong went very wrong, with outstanding performances in a visually and technically impressive package.
Definitely a challenging as well as gripping watch.
Jun Ji Hyun was the heart and soul and a bad*ss goddess in this!
With a thoughtful and optimistic approach, though sometimes too bubbly and simplified, it had a refreshingly positive vibe and two nice leads.
Refreshingly unique women-centered story, with relatable dialogues and relationships, without many typical family drama tropes (except an unnecessary mystery subplot) and a well-balanced mixture of funny and touching scenes.
Time well-spent.
It shows the politicians and corporate managers with their agendas and hesitation and, most of all, the ordinary people/workers and their determination, doing the best they could do with the little they were given, becoming heroes when all they ever wanted was for them and their families to survive.
Without any over-the-top drama, without being emotionally manipulative, but with long silences making more impact that any music or words can make, this was a difficult, extremely heavy and devastatingly sad watch, especially knowing and witnessing from the news this real-life tragedy when it actually happened...
With some pacing problems, uneven storytelling of the characters' perspectives, some far-fetched dialogues and some blurry messages, it is not bad but, for a novel adaptation, I was expecting more.
A compelling, thought-provoking and painfully realistic depiction of the elderly and their place among family and society, their endless efforts to find love and meaning in their lives.
Fantastic performances from all four leads, especially from Ni Da Hong and his outstanding character, smooth directing and editing and impressive filming in a heart-warming as well as heart-breaking love story.
Highly recommended.
After all, Kimura Takuya - grey-haired or not - is a charismatic, talented actor that never fails to deliver.
Time well-spent.
With a great photography of the beautiful snowy landscapes of Toyama prefecture and a subtle, convincing performance from Sato Miyuki, this is a heartwarming, bittersweet watch.
Though a bit confusing in the beginning, the cleverly written script, that partly unfolds all those members involvement and reactions, made this chaotic but unique approach an interesting, refreshing watch.
Full of yearning, lingering silences, looks, feelings and words left unspoken, this was a deeply moving, intimate and affectionate study on destiny and choices, time and distance, eloquently told, beautifully filmed and acted, with a mesmerizing Yoo Teo, that never fails to deliver.
Time well-spent.
All characters were flawed and did some very annoying/questionable things, but even so it was fun to watch them and even root for them - especially spoiled, slow-witted and horny Taishi, played beautifully by Matsuzaka Tori.
It had some infuriating moments and some repetitiveness towards the end, but overall it was a light, entertaining story.
Many long length films could learn a lesson or two from this short but wholesome gem.