237
599
129
10
9
12
10
3
10
18
6
9
1
2
10
19
4
4
3
1
2
3
4
1
1
2
4
9
12
30
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
By the end I was filled with a feeling of emptiness…
And I honestly do not know how to explain what it means. I just wanted to feel a little bit more, understand the characters a little bit better, connect to the story a little bit deeper, but it all stopped right before it hit the spot.How to put it… every new revelation made me disconnect from the plot more and more. Soramame started as an amazing and relatable character, but then was stripped from that mundane context that made me love her so much. Oto stayed frustratingly consistent throughout the show, but by the end some of his choices just made me roll my eyes - why so dramatic? Why can’t you act like a normal adult?
While I enjoyed the mutual pining and I have no issue with slow pace plots, the fact they were able to build misunderstanding on already existing misunderstanding was one step too far. The story focusing on chasing their dreams also lost its charm the moment we found out both leads some really unique skills that most people do not have. Not exactly motivational storytelling if you ask me.
I liked the show a lot, but I also liked it a little bit less with each episode I watched, and by episode 10 I had too many conflicting feelings about it.
Writing aside, the acting was great. I loved how the whole cast was able to deliver such unique and vibrant characters in such an approachable way. Hirose Suzu did an amazing job especially during the more emotional scenes. With that performance you can truly relate to the saying sometimes some of the happiest people are hurting the most.
Directing and editing was great. Loved all the shots during the sunset/dusk and how warm the tones were during them. The set designs were also to die for, made me want to live in the house with the leads, enjoying each day and anticipating what the next one will bring.
Overall, it was an enjoyable drama, but I cannot stop myself from feeling like something was missing.
Was this review helpful to you?
Detailed presentation of a complex situation.
I’ll be honest with everyone - the only reason one should watch this over a director's cut (which for me is a 10/10), is to later watch the director's cut and appreciate it even more.Memoir of a Murderer is a story about simple characters in a complex and convoluted situation - both internally and externally. The addition of dementia is such a fresh and fascinating take on the typical serial killer story. What happens when a “reformed” serial killer starts to lose himself in the past, regressing to immoral behavior and not being able to control his urges that were tamed for years? Add another layer of him trying to catch another serial killer while struggling to remember all the encounters and identities of people around him - what a horrifying, but also captivating scenario.
What the movie does perfectly well is confusing the audience - what is reality? What is just a fragment of imagination? What was a lie and what was a forgotten memory? No matter how much you might pay attention, you cannot differentiate between the real and the fake, unless the movie itself wants to tell you the truth. How did they achieve that? Smart directing, amazing editing, trusting the audience and one aspect that made the director's cut better - the conclusion that actually makes sense.
Sol Kyung Gu as Kim Byung Soo? Perfection. The range of emotions and expressions, the chilling narrations and that eye twitch… The performance that somehow made me sympathize with a serial killer, even feel bad for him. Disagreeing with his murderous nature was obvious, but the fear of losing your identity and years of life and memories is such a horrible vision, it was hard not to feel anything while watching the movie.
Overall, probably one of the best serial killer movies I have seen in years, easily top5 of all times. Personally preferred the director’s cut, so if one is not up to watching mostly the same movie twice, skip the theatrical release.
Was this review helpful to you?
10% of the writing and 90% of fluff.
It's the most digestible show I have ever seen with close to zero stakes, almost none evil or mean characters, no long term conflicts, every character starts more or less already good so you don't get stressed out by how bad they are and how much they have to improve and since their flaws are so inconsistent, they don’t create much tension either.That said, it does have a lot of truly good elements. First of all, the relationship between the leads evolve in a really natural and entertaining manner. The bickering is always lighthearted and Lu Si Cheng is for sure not one of the mean main leads. The interactions between the team members are heartwarming at times, and even the relations between different teams made me smile more than once. I also loved the female friendship between Tong Yao and Jin Yang.
One of my favorite things about the show was how it truly did address the toxic fans culture - the idolizing people fans don’t know, seeing them as flawless, trying to control their private lives, living in a delulu land they created in their heads and then getting paranoid and angry when the unrealistic bubble shatters. But, and it’s a big but - I truly disliked how they did not present the same stance towards all public figures. Lines that went similar to: I’m not an idol, I can date, gave the message that idols do not deserve the same level of privacy and personal life as, in this case professional gamers do.
Another straightforward, but fairly well presented issue was the discrimination of women in certain jobs and social groups. They did not shy from showing the unfair treatment Tong Yao had to face especially in terms of the public's opinions and reactions.
Production value was great. The game scenes looked amazing and I loved the design for the in game characters. On a technical aspect, I think they did a perfect job with opening each new episode - added enough scenes from the previous one to make a proper set up, but not long enough that you want to just skip it all.
Performances were… questionable. I was slowly losing my mind with each and every Korean scene. The dubbing was so awful I wanted to cry. The fact that Chinese characters spoke better Korean than Korean characters was just the cherry on top. Cheng Xiao had a few glimpses of potential in a few scenes, but overall the whole performance was mostly a surprised hamster.
Xu Kai was honestly not much better and there was only one scene when I went: oh, acting! That said, I still enjoyed his handsome face in each and every scene.
Overall, the only thing this show had to offer was cute fluff, but sometimes this is all one needs to be happy.
Was this review helpful to you?
Logic left the room, but the friendship was nice.
This is such a feel good show, you will end up puking rainbow by the end. When they started to recycle all the trash, all the suspense and anticipation said its last goodbyes and died. They basically told you they are going for a Disney ending and nothing will stop them.Is that a bad thing? Depends what are you expecting to get out of this drama. Anyone who thinks this drama has good writing, is lying to themselves, but at the same time, I honestly don’t think a good writing was their goal. This is a show that is supposed to have generic motivational messages, generic saint like leads, generic conflicts and generic resolutions and it all presented in a perfect, light, fun and addicting manner that invites you for the binge watch.
There is honestly close to nothing to say about the leads. Both Ji Xiang Kong and Qiu Ying are good, hardworking, friendly, honest, passionate - so perfect it’s boring. Luckily we get some amazing supporting characters to add spice to the mix: Pei Xi, who was the literal MVP of the drama for me. I adored his character and the surprised complexity he presented. Another character I appreciated a lot was Luo Tian - on a rather low key, but he stole every scene he was in.
Story wise, it’s the underdog fighting to get to the top for both leads. They follow exactly the same path - working hard and being passionate, but always facing issues because of the jealous rivals who play dirty. For some strange reason everyone was painfully informant about the dirty tricks and no one cared to actually run a business and bring profits. My favorite unrealistic part? The internal investigation lasted weeks, but consisting only of questioning 4 people, no one knows what tracking IP address is. What I am trying to say - to make the conflict last longer and feel that screen time, to make the leads journey more meaningful, as they have to face more hardship, all the characters in the show - be it good or the bad guys, had to stop using their brains and make all the dumb decisions possible.
As it’s always the case with shows like this, the best aspect was the friendships and partnerships. The number of fun and heartwarming interactions between various characters was a blast to watch. My favorite pairings were Pei Xi with everyone (but especially Qiu Ying and Ji Xiang Kong) and Qiu Ying and Luo Tian. Friendships and mentor-mentee relationships between female and male characters are so underrated in dramas.
The production value was fine. On one hand we had a great set design for different locations, on the other hand, unfitting styling for the characters. One thing I truly cannot stand in dramas is dolled up female characters even if the setting makes no sense for it. Why did both Qiu Ying and Lu Yi Yi look like idols ready to go on stage no matter the circumstances?
Acting wise, I don’t have massive complaints. Taking into consideration the writing, I don’t think anyone could give a better performance.
Overall, it’s a fast-food of dramaland - nice, addicting, something we crave from time to time, even though it’s not exactly good.
Was this review helpful to you?
Covid driven horror stories? I guess it can work...
Bad luck is a bitchI think the first story had the most confusing message. What was I supposed to get from it? Don’t always help people who claim they are in need because they can screw you over? Don’t break covid isolation restrictions by letting strangers stay at your home?
It was fun and wacky and the emo teen magician shaman boy got me dying from laughing, but I’m just not sure what the writer wanted to tell with this one…
Also, excuse me, but why was this story so dark? Damn, I could barely see anything.
Nothing beats meat
Decent story, but I’m not sure I like the black and white aesthetics. It was also way too short to have any meaning or impact. Felt a bit like an ad break. I understand it’s linked to all the fake covid medication and how not following the actual doctors’ advice and listening to random people with their great healing stories can screw you over, but… it kind of felt flat in presentation.
Shit happens
I did not think the title would be literal… I need a white truck of doom to give me amnesia asap. Oh gosh… why? When I thought it couldn't get any more gross, guess what. It got more gross.
The message is there - mistreatment of patients, overworked medical staff, desensitization to other’s suffering - great and strong messages, but why did they have to literally cover it all in shit?
HM?
Job insecurity during the pandemic was a big problem and the consequences are still here and with the current market, I don’t think they are going away anytime soon. The desperation of trying to earn money in any possible way is something many people could relate to. I’d say this story had the most clear direction and storytelling. When you feel like you won’t be able to even feed your child, you would ignore potential dangers with the hope of getting that coin.
Was this review helpful to you?
A few too many boobs shots.
That’s your typical, dumb and sexualizing women comedy… That is not funny. Such a dumb jokes I don’t even know how to comment on them.I was watching and I felt my neurons dying and IQ decreasing. I’m not even against dumb parody movies - which this tries to be. The execution must be good though and the jokes take a jab at the well known cliches in a clever way. This had none of it.
I guess the best part of the movie was the relationship between the brothers. It was well established, had some nice moments and a solid conclusion. The acting was also decent. Not from all the actors, but the main cast did fairly well.
That would be the end of compliments I have.
Sure the scenery and views were pretty and the makeup for zombies was not that bad. But it also was not good enough to recommend anyone to watch the movie.
Basically speaking - you won’t miss anything if you skip this movie.
Was this review helpful to you?
While the story itself was quite interesting, presenting some twists I did not see coming at all, and making me question which characters are involved and who is the bad guy, I wished they gave us a little bit more detail.
It was a fun and interesting watch, the performances were good, characters; motivation was vague at best, ridiculous at worst. The overall reasoning of the events happening did not have that much reason in it.
Overall, I don’t regret watching, but it’s not exactly something I would go around recommending.
Was this review helpful to you?
Horror elements that ruined the movie.
This would be such a good thriller mystery, but the extremely cheap horror ruined it. Samara meets Sadako and the killing hair. The effects and the ghost design were so bad I honestly wanted to skip all their scenes.That said, the story itself was quite compelling. The writer was able to form a close connection of the tragic story for the female lead and the main victim of the events from the past. The story had quite a few layers and the pacing of showing them one by one was rather well executed.
It’s for sure more of an investigation than a horror though. Majority of the movie is just the detective work and solving the murder cases happening.
Arang, by the end of the runtime, presents a good, unexpected twist (tho if it was that unexpected I am not sure, since I might have just not paid that much attention to figure out the plot for myself).
The acting was great - given for such a cast.
Overall, someone should make a cut version of this movie, removing all the cheap on budget Ring moments.
Was this review helpful to you?
Confusing motivations…
I did not really understand any of the characters - the ghost included.It does have a semi interesting start, that sets the tone for the rest of the movie - desperation and cheap jump scares. Sometimes this is all you need in a horror movie. Why was the female lead so invested in that uni movie was stupid though.
I get that she needed a horror story for her own movie, but with all the effort she put into the “investigation”, I’m sure she would be able to write something herself. Not to mention, was she both screenwriter and the director?
Then there is the ghost lady- why did she do all the shenanigans? They did not really explain if it was curse, vengeance… Sure, I can explain it myself with my little theories, but the movie did not, and that’s my point.
What I enjoyed - build up tension. Honestly believe cutting out all the jump scares would actually make the movie scarier. They ruined the atmosphere with how comedic they were… The pure investigation moments had me invested, but then a typical black hair lady jumped on the screen and I could not stop myself from laughing.
Performances were great. Loved how Seo Yae Ji’s character was so unaware how abnormal her behavior was, calling others crazy, when she herself acted in the most irrational way.
Overall, it was a decent watch. Would be better as an investigation horror game.
Was this review helpful to you?
