Kate

It’s fine to hurt people, if you were hurt first - all forgotten and forgiven…

What a hot mess this show is. I am amazed.

I won’t lie, the drama was entertaining. But I also find C class horror movies entertaining. Entertainment does not truly equal quality. I was in a constant state of confusion, and that’s what made it fun.

First of all, I still do not understand when Lee Shin A started to have feelings for Noh Go Jin. She was already liking him before he started to act like a human being and not a psychopath. What made her attracted to him? Was it just his handsome face? I cannot comprehend it. It’s not the case of “he seemed cold, but he showed warmths towards her, so she started to see the good in him” - she was already into him when the tiny bits of goodness started to force their way out of the depth of his trauma and trash personality.

About trash personality and excusing bad behavior because of a painful past - that was a whole ass trend in this show. Except for Lee Shin A, LITERALLY every significant character acted shady and did bad things because of either their current bad situation or past issues. And then it was forgotten and forgiven. The level of scheming was a bit too big for such a sweet resolution if you ask me. Consequences of your actions? Don’t know them.

While the romance had rather good pacing, and even though I do not understand Shin A’s reasoning, I can see a proper progression of both of their feelings. I cannot say the same thing about the mystery aspect of the drama. For the longest time the writer makes you believe male lead is a naive idiot who ignores all the red flags of everything wrong happening around him, when in fact everything was happening behind the scenes, outside of script, probably only in the writer’s imagination. We see none of the process, just the results and it’s so fucking unsatisfying.

I did like a lot of supporting characters. I found every teacher in the academy unique and entertaining. I liked that they were written to stand out on their own and not just fill the space. The side plot for the ex-secretaries was also endearing, especially with their inside woman ;)

The acting was good. Nothing amazing, but I did not have any bigger issues either.

Overall, there are so many better rom-coms, I cannot recommend it with a clear conscience.

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Surprisingly bland.

I wanted to love it, but there was truly not that much to love about it. I feel awful saying that. The fact is, the drama barely made me feel anything.

The bromance was fine, the cases were fine, the stakes were fine. But I felt like the whole show lacked... emotions. With the rather diverse variety of the cases, victims and perpetrators, it seemed like the majority of them reacted the same subdued way. Even for situations that would validate a proper rage, despair, fear - there was barely anything. I felt like the whole show lacked... emotions.

As I said though, we do get quite a variety of different cases that focus on different social struggles and dilemmas - social and workplace discrimination of women who struggle to secure their place despite presenting outstanding skills, loneliness of the youth, desperation that comes from love, social stigma towards victims of sexual abuse and how it can lead to not seeking justice, cyber crime against seniors that uses their lack of technological literacy and love for their families against them and many more.

What’s more to love? The acting was amazing, I give it to them. Tan Jian Ci might be one of the most diverse young actors in China right now. The way he can deliver a baby girl energy here, and edge lord energy in Lost You Forever alone should be the proof. He truly becomes the character he is playing - nothing about his performance seems fake.

While he truly became the star of the show, I do want to give props to the casting director. Crime procedural shows have a lot of guest roles for all the witnesses, victims and perpetrators - it’s not easy to have good actors play every role. Under the Skin managed to achieve that.

I think my biggest issue was how unrealistically good Shen Yi was at his job. I understand that professional forensic artists can do this, but he was not one when he took the job for the first time. The level of skill he showcased fitted more the “about to retire, working criminal cases for past 50 years” scenario. If they made him make some mistakes, maybe I could accept that, but they truly made his skill borderline supernatural.

So it did not matter how much I loved his character, when I could not stop laughing every time he started to sketch. I don't even want to talk about the prosopagnosia case, because that was a bit of a clownery. While it’s clear the production team researched a lot about forensic art and art overall, I cannot say the same about various other topics that were presented.

What’s more? Bromance was not truly bromancing for me. There were a few scenes here and there, but overall, I don’t think Tan Jian Ci and Jin Shi Jia have that much chemistry on screen, or maybe it was the issue of directing their scenes? I guess we will see in the second season.

Overall, something did not click right with me when I was watching. I was enjoying it, but I was not obsessed, even though on paper it seems like a drama I should want to binge watch in one sitting, forgetting to eat, sleep and pee…

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Horror never found…

It’s for sure more of an action fantasy with just some elements of horror. Truth to be told, it had more comedy than horror and I’m not mad about it.

It was an entertaining and light watch. A lot of jokes were basic, but they landed well. Simple plot works well with simple writing and good visuals, and that’s exactly what this movie delivers.

Timing for some revelations was a bit questionable, like when we find out what is the actual goal of the main villain. Or what is the importance of each and every character. Still, the pacing is great and the pay off is decent.

Honestly speaking, the production value was for sure the best aspect of the show. Great special effects, great set design, beautiful lighting and use of colors and filters. Stunning for many scenes, screenshots worthy.

For the acting, no complaints, but the roles were not that demanding anyway.

Overall, fun and simple sometimes is the best combination. Not everything has to be a complex philosophical tale with double meanings, sometimes a movie has to be just an entertainment.

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You don’t always need an eventful plot…

... and I wish writers would keep that in mind from time to time. I honestly wish they removed all the pointless, ridiculous and frustrating misunderstandings and just gave us a slow burn slice of life and two people getting closer to each other as they simply spend quality time cooking.

It was so enjoyable at first. And then all the unnecessary tension, annoying supporting characters and lack of communication happened and I gave up.

Sure, the acting was great, but the characters were just so frustrating to follow, the performance could not save it. Does not matter how tasty the dish might look, when it’s not actually tasty.

Overall, this is for sure a ship. It does not really work as romance nor a slice of life.

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Well, this was mildly interesting. A movie that leaves you with more questions than answers, but since I never took it seriously, I don’t even mind.

Mike Angelo’s face was the best part, not gonna lie. The whole cast did a decent job, the writing at times has been just too messy to follow. Who is related to whom? How do these people know each other? What are their goals? Why is it that no one uses their brain?

The biggest surprise for me was the good CGI. I have seen a fair share of monster flicks, and most are pitiful in that aspect. Seeing some decent effects and design for the creature was refreshing.

Overall, I was not bored, but I was not as entertained as I hoped I would be.

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Fanfic like story we all crave in the middle of the night.

I have hardly any thoughts about this show except for the fact that the female lead was amazing and the character deserves a full length drama. Strong, smart, confident - we need it.

The political schemes are complex as a set up and deserve a more in depth exploration too. The delicious angst this could bring if it was longer - I can only imagine.

The fanfic-like romance between confident and domineering female lead and puppy male lead with deadly skills was everything one might ask from a short show like this.

What surprised me the most was quite decent acting for a short, low budget web drama. This could have been a cringe fest and not fun entertainment if delivered with poor acting.

Overall, confident, hot male lead who? I only know Li Yun Zhen.

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Atmosphere that carried a vague plot.

Something we often get from Japanese horror - vague plot with good atmosphere, great music and sound effects and still images inducing panic response. That’s also what we’ve got from Pulse.

By the end of the movie we are offered little to no real explanations, and most are left to the viewers interpretation. Is this a commentary about the dangers of the internet? Is this a commentary about the human need for interactions and the terrifying portrayal of loneliness? It’s up to the viewer to decide.

The characters were rather bland. I kind of stopped paying attention to who is who at some point, and it did not really take away from the watching experience. I honestly believe them as individuals was not that important plot wise.

The thing I loved about Pulse was the atmosphere and built up tension. There are no cheap jump scares and all the horror is based on the fear of the unknown, perfect choice of music and the prolonged shots of uncanny images.

Overall, I would recommend it if you are in for a rather calm, but tense horror.

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Life so hard it feels like an endless night.

Stellar performance with a well executed story presented in three different timelines. While the show was not perfect with the execution, the strong points kept me interested enough to finish and give quite a high rating.

The Long Night has quite a number of positive aspects. Starting with a well written criminal case that does not lead to many unexplained events and plot holes. While the case was quite complex, as it connected many events throughout the years, it never felt ridiculously over the top. It was big enough it did not feel boring nor mundane, but realistic enough for me to believe it could happen in real life.

Then we have the amazing cast and the characters they portrayed. Not gonna lie, Bai Yu stole the show for me. The emotional impact his character had on me by the last episode was something I did not expect at all - especially since we know (to some extent) what kind of end he will face in episode 1. That one scene in the last episode literally made me hold my breath and I could not move a millimeter until it was over.

Jiang Yang, Chen Ming Zhang and Zhu Wei were the trio I especially enjoyed and their striving for justice and truth was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Another aspect that amazed me were well presented transitions between all the years and time lines. They clearly indicated what year specific scenes take place in and how they relate to the current situation. This type of plot could easily be confusing, but they managed to present it in an easy to follow manner. The transitions between two timelines with the use of voice recorded were ones that I especially enjoyed.

The issue I had with the drama was how they tried to evenly use the screen time for two timelines. As the result, for quite some time, I was not that invested in any. Logically speaking, I knew the case was extremely interesting, but I could not get myself to feel that much curiosity. For me, they should have established one (present) timeline first, and only after that slowly expanded on the past stories, but this mix and max as we progressed was a bit too much storytelling wise.

What’s more, the first few episodes led me to believe this will be a mystery driven show with unusual investigation that will have the intriguing cooperation between the police and journalist, to uncover the truth behind the murder case, that has it’s beginning years ago and involves far more people than anyone could have predicted. But shortly after it started to look like any other investigation show, and all the fun and refreshing additions were forgotten.

That said, you know how dramas usually have mediocre last episodes, when they had a good start? This ain’t that. Last 4 episodes were extremely thrilling and got me on the edge of my seat. Truth to be told, only then I started to feel the severity of what was going on and how it affected the characters. It was easier to tap into the emotional connection. The last episode was especially dark, and I had to take a few breaks while watching.

Overall, a solid watch. I feel like this is one of the rare cases in which the rewatch would actually improve the entertainment value. Knowing the whole picture would make me appreciate all the detailed connections between the cases and scenes.

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It's never too late to redefine yourself and start anew.

Dear My Room is a short and simple story that gives hope to all the young adults that are still searching for their purpose in life, feel like they are stuck in a grim reality, not finding happiness in any aspects of their lives. It questions what it truly means to be a responsible adult and how (un)important it is to follow other's expectations towards ourselves.

We follow the life of Eun Joo, who, after quitting her job, starts to explore her surroundings, relationships and finds her true passion. The drama shows how one small event in our life can be a start to self-improvement.

The show does a good job with not following the expectations of the viewers. Some plot lines went in a completely different direction that I thought, and I could not be more happy about it. We are also presented with truly wholesome and natural romance between main leads, with no painful Second Lead Syndrome (even though Jae Hyun was an extremely nice character, that quickly became my favorite).

Hye Jin was frustrating at times, but she plays an important role, showing us the contrast between her and Eun Joo. We can see how vital it is to have loyal friends, be true to yourself and your convictions and sometimes take a risk for the things you love and enjoy doing.

The production of the show just made me feel warm and happy. That's it. Each episode made me feel hopeful. People from their mid to late 20' could easily relate to the struggles of the characters and emotionally invest in the story.

The OST was perfect. It never felt out of place, had this sweet indie vibe. It perfectly matched the scenes, making them that much more enjoyable, and at times moving.

Overall, a perfect slice of life that tackles serious topics that young adults have to face, while not being depressing about them. The show truly motivates me to act on my ideas and hopes, instead of wanting to give up any plans I might have.

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Lots of fun if you leave the brain out of it. Do not try to understand it or find a logic behind anything, coz it ain't there. The whole premise of the show is built on misconception about a certain topic.

That said, I had lots of fun for the majority of watch time. They committed to the gruesome and violent scenes and questionable/ evil characters. I watched it and asked - is this really Korean? Where they censor and blur knives from scenes?

Editing was spectacular, except for some special effects, but I'm picky about these. Most people would probably love them. The fighting scenes were well choreographed, but it was the editing that added that special and unique edge to them. And the violence was... well, violent. Ain't some random few punches here and there.

The acting was for sure the strongest aspect after the directing and editing. Kim Da Mi's performance truly amazed me, especially closer to the ending. She showed a lot of skills and duality in her acting. Truth to be told, the whole cast did an amazing job. I was frustrated with the random English lines here and there, especially since Netflix does not provide subs for them, and as a not native speaker, with the accent, I did have some problems with understanding some of them...

So what went wrong?
The reasoning, explanations and motivations of the characters were all over the place. I enjoyed the movie up till the moment they tried to explain what exactly is going on. Why? Coz the explanation was simply dumb. They gave the same excuse many low sci-fi movies give, which was proven false countless times. Still using it, in my eyes, means lazy and unoriginal writing.

Was it a good movie? Yes, just do NOT think as you watch.

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Vibes and one clinically concerning finale.

Up till the last 5 minutes of the drama it’s just full of “nothing” and cliche, vibes and feelings with little substance. I’m not mad, the chemistry between Lee Sang Min and Jeong Jae Jong was good enough to actually carry the non-existing plot. The set up with the VR set was a bit awkward, but I can even turn a blind eye to that. They never truly explain what he is even testing and why, the boss/co-worker seems to not care what others do during working hours either. They don’t care, why should I?

But then the ending happens and I’m sitting in front of the laptop laughing like a maniac. So what you are saying is: Ha Yu Geon tried to magically manipulate Jeong Yeon into being completely in love with me with this magic experiment and Jeong Yeon was like: I'm okay with that. They need help. What an interesting twist that I truly did not expect at all. The longer I think about it, the more ridiculous it is. I want to send them into mandatory therapy.

And by dropping this unexpected revelation the drama ended. No time to adjust your thinking, understand what you just witnessed - just left in a state of shock. Pure form of entertainment. I mean, there is also the issue of Yu Geon conducting an experiment on Jeong Yeon when he was a minor without getting permission from him or his parents. The level of questionable ethics here is fascinating.

I’m not gonna pretend like the production or acting was masterclass quality. It was fine. Nothing stood out neither in a positive nor negative way. That said, they did a fairly good job with the placement of flashbacks and balancing them with the present timeline - it was easy to follow the story and how the character's feelings are changing. With extremely limited screentime and being able to show only snippets of interactions they made wise choices of what was important to highlight the story.

Overall, a decent watch with an amazing ending. The way that last episode changes everything. I expected questionable romance that might have started when one of the characters was still a minor, but what I’ve got was a whole ass manipulation and complicity that goes beyond what anyone would view as normal. What I mean is - fun!

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Some curses age well and Ring stands the test of time.

After all these years and countless rewatches, it's still such a fun movie. It can work as both an entertaining horror flick to watch with friends and the tense psychological horror to watch alone in a dark room.

From the opening scene and setting up the mystery of the killing tape, to the gradual reveal and investigation, up till the final moments - it keeps you guessing what comes next and how the story will conclude. The pacing was just perfect.

What’s more, Ring hits the good balance between building the tension through storytelling and scaring the viewers with good old jump scares. The scares are solid and not constant - you don't get tired from them. What older horror movies understood were the limitations put on the makers based on the technology they used - that’s why so many of the well known titles from the era do not really feel that dated. Knowing how much you can show, how much should be left for the viewers to assume and interpret, and what’s most important - the use of practical effects.

Surprisingly, as much as I find the movie atmospheric and entertaining, the perceived at the time message does not quite land anymore. The fear of the new media and technology is just not something a modern viewer would associate with the movie. I was honestly surprised to know that was the interpretation by many when Ring was released in 1998. The themes always seemed more general for me - the fear of the unknown and the larger consequences of it.

Overall, Ring for sure stands the test of time and I can confidently say it will most likely be this way for at least next 10 years if not more.

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Vast improvement from the first instalment.

I am positively surprised. While technically this movie presented the same issues I had with the previous one (weird mix of genres, slice of life drama and romance, too short of a screentime in the locations themselves), somehow the directing and storytelling is smoother and it made it all work out.

I think the poster actually quite well presents the ratio of the horror and the other elements in the movie - it's not that scary, there are not that many ghost scenes, any tensioned built is smoothed and mellowed by the more mundane plotlines, that are in fact also entertaining.

Initially I questioned the need of Karin as a main character, but soon the plot became more clear and her existence not only valid, but necessary for the story to unfold the way it did. While I do think some twists and turns were more obvious than they intended them to be, it was still a rather enjoyable watch.

Performances, directing, editing, sound design - all great. No major complaints. Male lead was way too chill about everything that was happening around and to him for most of the movie, but that’s more of the writing than acting issue. If a ghost had hots for me and started to make moves, I’d be gone not only from that house, but also from the country. Just to be sure.

Overall, I’d say watch this, skip the first one. They are not connected plot wise so they can be viewed as different stories in the same universe.

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Who are you - the question we don’t have an answer to.

Realistically speaking, I understood around 80% of the movie. There are many things that are just hinted at, especially about the details of the resolutions/conclusions. Does it bother me? No. If anything, it makes me more interested in potential rewatch to see if I missed anything. The movie presents a lot of questions, but not all the answers.

How much do we change and curate ourselves to match social expectations and responsibilities set by the roles we decide to take? On the other hand, is following our desires the true freedom or just another cage? Driven by desires or led by society - where is the freedom in both, where is the place for personal choices?

These are the questions I kept thinking about while watching Cure. It also reminded me that we as humans love to simplify everything - binary thinking is easier. Extreme solution to mundane problems - that’s how I saw the freedom Mamiya was spreading. Momentary freedom that led to more restraints. Because living is not as simple as always doing what others expect you to do, nor is it simply following your current needs. Forcing others to adhere to your narrow definition of freedom is not setting them free, it’s just taking the leash in your own hands and controlling them by your own standards.

Cure is a great psychological mystery that masterfully crafts the tension. The longer I watched, the more I wanted to get the answers, but by the end, I was fine with still wondering. Strangely it felt as if I was given the freedom to find my own conclusion. It’s not a typical crime movie where we want to know who did it. Rather, we desperately try to figure out why it was done. It’s slow and atmospheric.

With a script like that you need charismatic actors to pull it off. And I was blessed with Yakusho Koji’s performance as Takabe Kenichi - a detective and husband, who struggles with maintaining these two roles, slowly cracking under the pressure. Hagiwara Masato as Mamiya Kunihiko was simply terrifying. Something about that detached, but piercing presence made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Editing and production was truly perfect. From longer and uncut scenes that created the tension, or the quick cut flashes of moments and frames, that in addition to giving important clues, served as a good indicator of the shift of perspective and the connections the main lead made.

Overall, highly recommend to all the folks who liked to be asked questions and not get conclusive answers, making your own brain do the work. Less investigation, more philosophical. Slow pace might deter some people from watching - proper watching conditions might be the key to enjoyment.

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It was not perfect, but it was perfectly entertaining.

Personally I like my zombie horrors with a dose of humor and I am a Hero delivers. I do think I might have laughed at some not exactly humorous moments too, but that's how you roll when you've seen so many horror movies in your life.

The best aspect of this movie is the fact it has personality. Having a normal guy be the real and grow to be a hero is a dynamic journey I love to see in movies. I do believe that he was too dumb and too naive for too long, but with how the story ended, I can somehow forgive it. What's more, I appreciated how the zombies had these specific behaviors connecting them to their past lives. Big shoutout to athlete, who from zombies' perspective must have been the MVP.

On the other hand, I wish they turned Hayakari Hiromi a bit later in the movie, or let her meet Suzuki Hideo faster. We did not really get to know her that well as full human before she turned, but after the change, she was not really much of a character to follow anyway.

The acting - good. I feel like the only person who truly had to show some skills was Oizumi Yo. The other characters were a bit too flat to requite a high level of performance.

Loved the design for the zombies. The eyes going sideways was creepy and the visible mutation was a great touch. They actually looked scary. Props for all the practical effects that made the movie that much more gruesome.

The action scenes were also great. Some more, some less believable, but I appreciate no one turned into a ninja or professional fighter. They all fought with all their strength and limited skills. That said, there was one scene closer to the end that did feel a bit long and I was really close to skipping few seconds.

Overall, this was such a fun ride. A lot of blood, a lot of killing zombies.

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