It broke my heart into a million little pieces... Shockingly raw, minimal and authentic, but so heartfelt and delicate. Poignantly filmed and acted, this masterpiece is a piercing social commentary but, most of all, a devastatingly beautiful and absorbing story of love, caring and devotion.
A coming of age and a sad unrequited love story between two school girls. Slow-paced, with long shots and minimal dialogues, words & feelings left unspoken, this was an intense watch, full of melancholy and yearning.
Surprisingly, this was much better than its prequel, which is something rare. Still a dysfunctional and miscommunicating relationship, but cute and addicting nonetheless. Once again, the clever addition of the main leads' inner voices/thoughts was the best part of the story and helped us get a better insight into their actions and feelings.
A sad first love story, beautifully filmed and acted, with a mellow, bittersweet tone. Though too many tear-jerking cliches and tropes were used and the story was mostly predictable, for Michieda Shunsuke and Fukumoto Riko's youthful charms and chemistry it was totally worth it.
Based on an incredible but true story, Onoda isn't just an anti-war movie, but a contemplative character study of a Japanese soldier and his denial to believe that World War II had ended, thus continued to fight a guerilla war on a remote Philippine island until 1974. Although a little bit too long, it is a captivating story of survival, loyalty and extreme dedication (or blind obedience and brainwashing, if you prefer).
‘Time stopped for us a long time ago. Now we’re just waiting to get old.’ An epic, utterly sad and compassionate melodrama covering the lives of two ordinary couples from the 80s to the present day, their friendship, estrangement and reconciliation, after a family tragedy, as well as their grief and guilt involved. A piercing social commentary of China's one-child policy, cultural revolution, economic reform and modernisation. Though its long duration and the confusing flashbacks can test one's patience, the delicate direction and the moving acting make it worth it.
An absorbing depiction of an intoxicating love story, full of lust, yearning and regrets. Though it definitely had some plot and pacing flaws, the exquisite cinematography and colouring, the lavish costumes and settings, the wonderful representation of a nostalgic era, as well as the electrifying chemistry between elegant breathtaking Nakayama Miho and suave Nishijima Hidetoshi made this film a great watching experience.
Slow-paced, mellow and introspective, filled with moments and gestures of kindness, healing and hope towards lonely, reclusive and hurt people. Arimura Kasumi really shone like a ray of sunshine in a cold winter day in this.
Not bad, but not good either... Though the cast did the best they could, the sloppy writing, the slow-pacing and the repetitive back and forth made this drama a real chore to watch.
A bitter-sweet, and in parts very frustrating, love-story between two friends. The comedy parts were not always successful and the ending disappointing, but it had a few nice, cute moments.
A unique artistic watching experience! One of the most well-known traditional pansori folk songs, Chunhyang, tells the story of two star-crossed lovers from different social backgrounds. With a brilliant use of Pansori lyrics for the story narration, gorgeous cinematography, settings, costumes and two very young talented leads (in fact this was Cho Seung Woo's acting debut), this was a cultural lesson/introduction to Korean tradition.
Acting, directing and editing were the saving graces of this disappointing film. Unbelievable, unrealistic and very predictable. In fact, the only thing that wasn't predictable was how dumb all characters were, especially those two outrageously incompetent policemen...
Bitter-sweet, inspiring but too predictable and 'noisy'. Definitely not the best work of Kamio Fuju (he did put a lot of effort but he was a mismatch). But, knowing this is based on a true story and a real person, it hits different and most of its mishaps can be overlooked.
A samurai historical fiction about a group of expendable strong peasants forming the Ichigeki (One strike, One kill) squad, trained to attack and run away -and no defense whatsoever- while carrying out missions against Satsuma han. Though the film is not so informative about the political backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, the cast (especially the three main leads) and their characters make this an enjoyable watch, at least for the lovers of this genre.
Dark, violent and enigmatic, though flawed, dated and not really convincing. Too bad Cho Seung Woo's twisted, mysterious (and kinda sexy) serial killer character wasn't fully utilized.
An anthology movie of five stories about family and friendship, bonding, arguing and making amends, as well as character development, realising one's dreams and the pursuit of a better life. It would have been much better if the comic elements were less pronounced.
"A life isn't valued by what one receives, but by what one gives."
A whimsical tragi-comedy -spiced with musical elements- told in flashbacks/glimpses into the troubled, frivolous and vibrant life of Matsuko. With an outstanding cinematography, full of vivid colours and an outlandish as well as unforgettable style, this jarring sarcastic fairytale isn't for everyone, but definitely deserves a try.
After a promising start for something unconventional and innovative, unfortunately this ended up being a rather disappointing, below average romcom with the usual cliches. Sloppy writing and directing, with an annoying, childish FL who kept breaking the 4th wall unnecessarily too many times and an intriguing, mysterious ML who transformed into someone ordinary and predictable in the blink of an eye...
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Shockingly raw, minimal and authentic, but so heartfelt and delicate.
Poignantly filmed and acted, this masterpiece is a piercing social commentary but, most of all, a devastatingly beautiful and absorbing story of love, caring and devotion.
Slow-paced, with long shots and minimal dialogues, words & feelings left unspoken, this was an intense watch, full of melancholy and yearning.
Still a dysfunctional and miscommunicating relationship, but cute and addicting nonetheless.
Once again, the clever addition of the main leads' inner voices/thoughts was the best part of the story and helped us get a better insight into their actions and feelings.
Though too many tear-jerking cliches and tropes were used and the story was mostly predictable,
for Michieda Shunsuke and Fukumoto Riko's youthful charms and chemistry it was totally worth it.
Although a little bit too long, it is a captivating story of survival, loyalty and extreme dedication (or blind obedience and brainwashing, if you prefer).
An epic, utterly sad and compassionate melodrama covering the lives of two ordinary couples from the 80s to the present day, their friendship, estrangement and reconciliation, after a family tragedy, as well as their grief and guilt involved.
A piercing social commentary of China's one-child policy, cultural revolution, economic reform and modernisation.
Though its long duration and the confusing flashbacks can test one's patience, the delicate direction and the moving acting make it worth it.
Though it definitely had some plot and pacing flaws, the exquisite cinematography and colouring, the lavish costumes and settings, the wonderful representation of a nostalgic era, as well as the electrifying chemistry between elegant breathtaking Nakayama Miho and suave Nishijima Hidetoshi made this film a great watching experience.
Arimura Kasumi really shone like a ray of sunshine in a cold winter day in this.
Though the cast did the best they could, the sloppy writing, the slow-pacing and the repetitive back and forth made this drama a real chore to watch.
The comedy parts were not always successful and the ending disappointing, but it had a few nice, cute moments.
One of the most well-known traditional pansori folk songs, Chunhyang, tells the story of two star-crossed lovers from different social backgrounds.
With a brilliant use of Pansori lyrics for the story narration, gorgeous cinematography, settings, costumes and two very young talented leads (in fact this was Cho Seung Woo's acting debut), this was a cultural lesson/introduction to Korean tradition.
Unbelievable, unrealistic and very predictable.
In fact, the only thing that wasn't predictable was how dumb all characters were, especially those two outrageously incompetent policemen...
Definitely not the best work of Kamio Fuju (he did put a lot of effort but he was a mismatch).
But, knowing this is based on a true story and a real person, it hits different and most of its mishaps can be overlooked.
Though the film is not so informative about the political backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, the cast (especially the three main leads) and their characters make this an enjoyable watch, at least for the lovers of this genre.
Too bad Cho Seung Woo's twisted, mysterious (and kinda sexy) serial killer character wasn't fully utilized.
It would have been much better if the comic elements were less pronounced.
A whimsical tragi-comedy -spiced with musical elements- told in flashbacks/glimpses into the troubled, frivolous and vibrant life of Matsuko.
With an outstanding cinematography, full of vivid colours and an outlandish as well as unforgettable style, this jarring sarcastic fairytale isn't for everyone, but definitely deserves a try.
Sloppy writing and directing, with an annoying, childish FL who kept breaking the 4th wall unnecessarily too many times and an intriguing, mysterious ML who transformed into someone ordinary and predictable in the blink of an eye...