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“People forget kindness easily, but they remember cruelty.”
The movie is basically 1 hour and 20 minutes of exposition that leads to the last 25 minutes of showdown that feel heartbreaking, but somehow cathartic. It’s really slow paced, until it’s not, but the wait is worth it.Would I call it a horror movie? No. Sure, it does have horror elements, but it’s far more psychological thriller, or even dark psychological drama. Most of the movie has this borderline silly vibe, with underlying tension caused by the Head of the village - it’s hard to predict his nature. There are quite a few comedic elements, which for me make the dark ending that much darker.
It’s a story of a normal, rather good man Woo Ryong, and how external circumstances affected him. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving away any spoilers. Most of the movie is just him and his son slowly integrating into a village, until someone sees it as a threat.
What I really enjoyed was how many small moments, lines and actions in the first half came back closer to the end - tying everything together.
The acting was great. Ryu Seung Ryong aced both the light and darker side of Woo Ryong. I honestly wish we had seen more of the unhinged one.
Production wise, the rats could have been better. There were moments when they looked beyond fake. That said, the rest of the movie was simply beautiful.
Overall, worth pushing through, even if you feel like nothing is really happening. For some, the sudden change of tone can seem abrupt, but for me it was slowly, but meticulously crafted with many details and hints of what’s to come.
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Could have been amazing, if kept on a smaller scale.
My biggest issue was how unrealistic this whole plot was, and how it forced too many characters to act painfully stupid - this stopped me from getting immersed into the story and caring for the characters.The setting is truly interesting and allows you to slowly build the atmosphere. The dark tunnels, small spaces - all anxiety inducing. You could potentially feel the disorientation of the characters, when they are being chased by the killer. Sadly, I could not feel it. Why?
With the number of victims, the police reaction, or rather the lack of reaction, was quite ridiculous. It would be better to not involve the police at all, and make me wonder where they are when needed, than make me suffer watching this level of incompetence and lack of care.
I can deal with one stupid character… maybe two. But all of them? That’s just a pain for my brain. I get it, if everyone is smart, the movie ends before it starts. Just write a smart villain with a realistic setting that does not need characters with two brain cells to make it work.
Was the villain part of some supernatural evil gang? He was undestructable. I feel like one could cut his head off, and he would go: day like any other.
So, what’s good? Amazing performance. It’s Jung Kyung Ho we’re talking about. I am 100% certain he can sell literally any role and make it good. I also really liked Choi Deok Moon as Jong Ho, one of the victim’s father. Yun Seo had some clever tricks and moves, so it was truly entertaining to watch her navigate this deadly underground labyrinth.
Overall, good suspense, good visuals, great idea - if only they lowered the number of initial victims and kept the police away from it. Make it only a story of Yun Seo, Soo Jung and Jong Ho, and I would love it.
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Sometimes stalkers are cute ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Love Mate has a strong old school rom-com vibe, leaning into exaggerated set ups, and one either likes it or not. Both Haram and Lee Jun were the extremes in their behavior. The introduction of the characters made both seem rather unreasonable and unprofessional in the best and most entertaining way possible.Lee Jun tried to use his workplace and project he was working on to vent his annoyance, anger and trauma related to love - not really caring if the project makes sense. Ha Ram went full on stalker mode, always taking 5 steps too far in how he was approaching Lee Jun. Both frustrating, but so entertaining if you accept the over exaggerated set up as a stylistic choice - this drama does not try to be a realistic and relatable slice of life.
The chemistry was one of the best aspects, especially after the initial clash dies down. I do think Lee Jun’s change of mindset came a bit out of nowhere, but at the same time, it’s not exactly completely unrealistic - some people make fast decisions and switch their behavior accordingly.
While I enjoyed laughing about the characters’ antics and push and pull dynamics, I wish the writer did a better job with presenting the conflicts. What we’ve got was one internal and one external conflict happening one after the other. What would work better (especially since these conflicts were actually connected) is making them happen at the same time. It would make the external conflict feel less rushed and the whole context the characters were in more complex.
The acting was mostly good. Loved Cho Hyun Min’s performance - really natural facial expressions. Random thought, but I also loved how he said 완전 twice in the show. At the same time, while Cho Han Gyeol did a better job in comparison to many other kbl actors, he did not stand out with his skills next to Hyun Min. Some emotional scenes felt flat and forced.
Production value was nice - nothing too outstanding, but also nothing so bad it would be distracting. There were a few scenes in which I liked the composition.
Overall, a fun drama, probably better as a binge watch.
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Main story that feels like a side-plot.
I’m sad to say, but there was something strangely satisfying about this movie. It did not feel like the main story. It felt like one of the side plots in a drama. A bit wishy-washy.Yes, the story was technically moving. Love how it showcases disability focused on the children and how it affects them and their guardians. I also truly appreciated the focus on communication and the patience needed to create a bond with a child who does not use the usual channels of communication we know.
The acting was amazing, especially from Jung Seo Yeon who was only 7 when she portrayed Eun Hye. And yet, while the movie made me smile from time to time and the interactions between Eun Hye and Jae Shik were adorable, I was never truly moved.
Maybe because there was just too much going on plot wise? MLs failed career, gangsters on his ass, hunting for the “aunt”, then side plots with the watermelons and that small family, his bond with Eun Hye. At the end everything felt underwhelming.
Overall, I liked it, but did not love it. Maybe it would work better in a longer format, or with some plots trimmed.
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Found family trope, but with real family…
Or rather reconnecting with your family while learning how to move forward - that’s what the drama is about.To be honest, it was not easy for me to make up my mind about the show. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was I excited to watch every episode? Not really. That’s the thing with a slice of life dramas - you either connect to the characters and enjoy the ride, or feel like a third wheel in a relationship. This time I felt more like a third wheel.
Here’s the thing though, the drama is good, really good. I guess it just was not for me. Kishibe Mitsuru felt like a plot device to motivate other characters and deliver some truly meaningful lines, while himself staying stagnant. I understand that it fits the theme, but I like my main characters to feel more like the main characters…
The aspect of the show I truly loved was the relationship between Akiba Koji, who also was my favorite character, and Akiba Harumi. The progression was shown in such a delicate and minimalistic way, but when comparing their interactions in first and last episodes, the progress is clear. One line here, one interaction there, but the end result made me cry.
Another thing I appreciated about the show was how mundane it was. Normal people with painfully normal issues and somehow it was refreshing. There is nothing worse than a show trying to seem relatable, but also adding stories 0.00001% of viewers could truly relate to. Here I could understand the struggles of all the characters, either because I faced them myself at some point of my life, or I saw people around me try to deal with similar situations.
The acting was obviously great. Ikuta Toma did a fantastic job with this role. He was truly subtle with some of the emotions, but they were still easily visible and understood.
Production wise, it’s kept in a rather simple style. Simplicity did fit this type of story rather well and both the writing and directing created a cohesive picture.
Overall, even though I did not fall in love with this drama, I would still recommend it. I can clearly see why people love it, and I’m a bit sad I was not able to connect to it as much as others did. It delivers some great life lessons supported by strong dialogues and moving lines.
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It’s a rather slow take on how regret and guilt can really mess you up and lead to unfortunate decisions… you will end up regretting yet again. The ending ties it all up quite well, explaining many details presented along the way.
The performances were great in terms of line delivery, but because of the set up, it was not always as easy to judge anything beyond that - I just simply could not see much.
And that’s the flaw of the production. I understand that the set up was intentional and the dark claustrophobic small space was part of the storytelling, yet I cannot stop myself from being disappointed with the result.
Overall, a decent watch. I feel like the ending might seem a bit confusing at first, but by the time credits roll in, it’s not hard to put the puzzles together.
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Engaging narrative that ties everything together.
Slow paced storytelling that trusts the viewers are smart enough to connect the dots themselves. Noroi opens with seemingly random plot lines that do not quite fit together, but as the story progresses, you start to notice the connections and by the end of the movie, everything falls into a perfect picture. Not a scene nor a frame seemed redundant.I appreciated how Noroi: The Curse believed in my memory skills and brain power, and did not spam me with countless flashbacks that are supposed to help me connect the scenes and lore elements. It’s up to a viewer to either see the patterns and hints in the background that are dropped throughout the movie. With that, it presents itself as a perfect rewatch material - as a viewer, it’s entertaining to try to find things you might have missed on the first watch.
If you expect a lot of jump scares and a fast paced scary story - you won’t find it here. It relies on building the creepy and disturbing atmosphere framed into a realistic documentary style. It takes a while before anything truly happens, and yet the plot itself is interesting enough, so you won’t get bored waiting.
Overall, one of the best documentary-like horror movies I have seen in quite a while. The filming, editing, acting - all comes together to make it seem like a real story that truly happened. It requires you to pay attention to understand the it completely, but it’s worth it.
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It presents two different love stories - one more lighthearted with lots of comedy, and the other showcasing the potential hardships that can hold someone back before they are able to accept the love. Pi's character for sure will become one of my favorite BL main leads. The writing did a good job in presenting someone who has low self-esteem and is aware of it. Some of his lines were truly hard-hitting and perfectly illustrated what he was dealing with.
Sadly, the characters' writing suffers from "2gether syndrome" when writers, for some strange reason, decide to ruin the writing for the sake of an artificial conflict and more "drama". With 2gether Sarawat was the victim in episode 11, here it's Mork with the painful writing in episode 8 and our poor girl Bam later on. It was truly hard for me to root for the main couple after a few questionable scenes and decisions that were made on Mork's side, but as it is with BLs - you learn how to ignore some mistakes for the sake of the overall enjoyment.
The thing that the show for sure needs to be prized for is the production and editing. As a viewer, I don't really expect much from BLs on that side - you get used to the fact a lot of BLs look cheaper compared to other dramas, and there is not much attention to detail. Not here though. I was truly amazed with the quality. I never take screenshots while watching BLs, because realistically speaking, rarely ever is there anything to screenshot. And yet, I have a full folder of pictures from Fish Upon The Sky. Hopefully this will become the standard in the production quality.
And here comes one flaw, that is a flaw no matter how you look at it: the shippers. What bothered me the most was not even their toxicity, but the fact the writer was not sure how they wanted to present them - as a toxic or comedic harmless duo. The powerful scene between them and Pi was completely disregarded in later episodes and I was truly confused. What exactly am I supposed to get from it? What is the message? Is there even any message?
Overall, it’s quite an enjoyable ride. There were bits that frustrated me to the core, but that's the beauty of watching any drama - they evoke emotions in us, whenever positive or negative. It's a show I would for sure recommend if someone asks for some BL suggestions. It's an easy watch with some good qualities that will keep you interested.
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Painful lack of balance.
Duel is an interesting tale that serves as a commentary on morality, what it means to be human and what one can do for survival. It mixes typical corruption and crime plot lines with underlying science fiction elements. Sadly, the lack of balance in terms of writing the characters and their backgrounds makes it hard to truly enjoy and appreciate it.To keep it simple, this show kept making me feel angry, depressed and frustrated. This drama was determined to dump any possible bad event on one character, not letting him, nor me as a viewer, take even a small chill break. By the end of the show I couldn't care less about any other character except for Sung Hoon. While making me care so much about the "villain" - the angry, manipulative and selfish one of the Sungs could be considered excellent writing, the fact that it also makes me dislike Sung Joon says otherwise.
How many writing mistakes must you commit to make me dislike the good, loyal, selfless and cute character, while I wish to see the happiness of the evil, shady and selfish one? And that's where the lack of balance shows. The good guy was too good and didn't have an interesting backstory, while the bad guy had a compelling background and more complex personality.
The plot follows a rather typical structure of a crime show. The science fiction aspect has little if not no closure. All storylines for each character got a conclusion - some more, some less satisfying.
I have to applaud Yang Se Jong's performance. He aced both the goodness in Sung Joon and madness in Sung Hoon. Truly believable dual acting. I wasn't the biggest fan of Kim Jung Eun in here, but I'm honestly not sure if the problem was her acting, or how her character was written.
Overall, watch it if you like to suffer and be frustrated - for some people it makes them feel alive. For me, the drama could have dived deeper into how external circumstances can shape who we are and how we act, what it means to act morally and if it even matters when faced with a life or death situation.
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Well, that was a sweet and wholesome 4 minutes movie.
It was like watching someone's memories. Passing moments of happiness, unsureness, bravery, sadness and then hope. Even though this short movie is truly short, it portrays a wide range of emotions. Shot without any spoken dialogues, it relies on the small moments, touches, stolen glimpses.The movie is filmed in a beautiful way. The scenery is truly breathtaking. Supported by a good choice of music, it has this magical, light feel to it, that makes you miss your youth, first love, that is often unrequited and traveling with friends - full of happiness and undisturbed joy.
That said, since the movie does not have any spoken lines, they should have been slightly smarter with the choices of music/sound directing. There is a moment that is not accompanied by any sound, and it makes it feel empty, not finished, unpolished. It should be full of ambient noises. That would create a great contrast to the dreamlike feeling given a few seconds earlier.
Overall, well shot, well acted, well directed and produced sweet, short love story.
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The Girl Power won against Mnet's evil editing.
I went into this expecting the worst. Mnet making the girls seem evil and uncaring, like they did in Unpretty Rapstar. The emotionally exhausting feel of constant competition and shame of losing. And this show was everything but that.I am not gonna lie, Mnet tried at first to show the girls is less than appealing light, but the cast was so amazingly fun, supporting and caring, there was nothing to evil edit. They gave up. And from that point I could focus on the perfect performances and the bond building between the girls.
The strongest point of the show was the fact, everyone could be unapologetically themselves without the need of toning down their personalities and thoughts.
Hyoyeon could enjoy performing without feeling like every stage depends on her as she was the senior compared to others, Cheetah showed her strong presence on stage and caring personality behind the scenes, Ailee was like a supportive angel making sure everyone is feeling good while enjoying the show herself, Jiwoo could shine bright with solo performances and truly show her true colors as a performer, Yeeun, who was lost and confused at first was able to learn how to define herself and be daring in chasing after what she wants, Jamie killed everyone with her cuteness, but also bold charisma, Yunhway brought this calmness and sophistication that left me in awe, Sleeq was just the best person on the planet and her growth and openness was admirable, Young Ji was a happy virus that woke everyone up with her energy and impressive skills and Queen Wa$abii who was tearing apart all the prejudice people might have for a daring and provocative performers.
It's a competition that focuses more on the bonding and personal growth of the cast, and not the competitive aspect of it. Even the teams they were going against were far more focused on just enjoying the process.
I cried a lot while watching. I got amazingly attached to the whole cast and did not want the show to end. It just felt like a new family was created. The change in the views the girls had about each other was amazing to watch. How all of them had such distinctive colors and yet they worked so well together. Pairings that made no sense at first created some of the best stages.
Overall, it was just truly touching. Not only did it have some beautiful and powerful songs and performances, but what is more important: a heart.
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Confusion, frustration, disappointment... since it could have been so good.
The writers in a writing room were like: do we want romance? melo? thriller? psychological? crime? buddy cop? family issue? gray character? psychopaths? serial killers? good characters with gold morals? tragic past? every cliche on the earth? yes.The Good
I have to admit, it has quite well written side/supporting characters with nice stories and development/progression. Young Mi being the "behind the scene heart of the story", her and Hyeon Woo's scenes were some of my favorites and I was always curious where they would lead. Hyeon Woo has been just a huge mystery and I never knew what the heck he was thinking. There is also baby boy Dae Jin, who broke my heart. Definitely the best executed story line in the whole show.
Other good aspects of the drama were the editing and production value. The show was simply beautiful. I loved all the "from the floor" shots (low angle ones), even though they started overusing them at some point. But from an aesthetic point of view, it felt as if it was made for me.
The Bad
Lee Tae Kyung... What a boring main character. Legit did not care about him at all. Isn't it tragic? The main character being the weakest one?
The confusion I felt from the writing team. As if they could not make up their minds on what the drama is supposed to be. Is it a character driven drama set in a court/business setting? Is it a crime, fast paced one with action? Is it a psychological one with some good old psychopaths? What was it?
The set up of the characters and the plot was too long. It basically took 10 out of 16 episodes. While I enjoyed the last 6 a lot, the first 10 were truly off. It felt as if I was watching two different dramas.
The "I couldn't care less"
The romance... What was the point? It leads to nowhere, they have no romantic chemistry nor they look or act as past lovers. The only scenes that gave you that impression are the few when they are talking about it and you are like - oh yeah, they were a thing before the show started.
Yeon Ah character - I don't know if I was just not impressed with Nana's acting (though I know she ain't bad and has some good skills), but I could not connect with her at all.
Overall, I would not recommend watching. The only memorable bits and characters are the supporting parts, so it would be a waste of time. It was not a bad show, but I rather take a bad one that I can laugh about than the mediocre one, that I just feel bored and frustrated with.
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as a wise woman named Jo once said.
The biggest problem I had with this movie was the beginning exposition. It was supposed to give me a background of the story, sort of an introduction, but these few minutes just bore and confused me. I lost focus in the opening scene and it never came back. Giving me a narrator explaining all the history and all the information I need to know is the laziest way of starting the movie.
With that in mind, I barely cared about what was happening. It was a beautiful movie with a great cast, but it was simply not engaging. They introduced a lot of characters, and it felt like half of them just got lost half way through the movie, just to be brought back by the end.
Anyway, in a few days I will forget I have ever seen it, and even now I can't really tell what was the plot. There was some romance and no one was happy. Lots of fights and running in metal.
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Throw away the logic, let the pigeons in.
It was refreshing to see how they truly did not give a damn about realism and logic to such a ridiculous extent, but because of that, this drama had no business having 20 episodes, each 1 hour and 20 minutes long.Realistically speaking, the whole plot would perfectly fit into a 2 hour movie. Instead, we’ve got around 28 hours of Vincenzo being cool finding a way to fight Babel, said “way” getting killed, Vincezno finding another way to fight Babel, that then gets killed… you get the idea. Strangely, even with this painful repetitiveness, I was not exactly bored for most of the watch time. True, I did watch the whole drama at 1.25x speed, but I enjoyed the experience quite a lot.
Surprisingly brutal, a few times reminding me more of a Saw movie, and not a k-drama comedy about a mafia. Not sure how, but this vicious take mixed well with the dumb jokes and plot points. The only time I felt like the show failed at mixing different moods was the way they handled Cha Young’s motivation to join the fight - that bit made me feel slightly uncomfortable and was not the best start to the series.
Song Joong Ki as Vincenzo Cassano was the selling point of the show, and for me, the performance was so strong, I did not even need more from the drama to keep watching. He is just really fine, and when he goes into full boss mode, I could not care less about the plot. Sometimes, this is all I need to keep me entertained.
Then we have Hong Cha Young played by Jeon Yeo Been. Love the actress, struggled with the character, especially in the first half. Her comedic vibe has been just too strong for me to like. Slowly she became less cartoonish, and more like a relatable human being - that’s when I started to appreciate her more.
I am truly not the biggest fan of Ok Taec Yeon as an actor. Has been a fan of his since his debut in 2PM, he is born to be an entertainer, but I was not even once convinced by his acting. Yet, I loved him as Jang Jun Woo. Don’t know if it’s just one lucky role for him, or he is starting to feel more comfortable in his acting, but I bought him as Jun Woo completely.
Some side characters and performances that caught my attention were: Kwak Dong Yeon as Jang Han Seo, Choi Deok Moon as Tak Hong Shik, Kim Yoon Hye as Seo Mi Ri and Im Chul Soo as Ahn Ki Seok. Not to forget Kim Sung Cheol for whom I have quite a soft spot.
I could feel all the money spent on the production leaking through my screen. Top notch might be an understatement. When you know the production team did not shy from spending money? When the soundtrack has 67 tracks - all of extremely high quality.
Still, the writing was just… empty? It serves amazing entertainment, and that’s it. There was no depth, no emotional attachment, no well developed plot. I’m still trying to figure out how the decision to make it into such a long drama was made. I can imagine the writer, director and the production team sitting in the bar, after quite a few bottles, brainstorming with ideas of a similar quality to “but imagine this: lizard people were behind it all along”. Some plot points were so outside of the box I was truly impressed with the creativity.
Overall, perfect brainless drama for some fun, light watch. Watching this as my neurons were being fried by Covid was a perfect choice and I don’t think any other drama could accompany me through that hell as well as Vincenzo did.
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Suffers from the limited screen time.
The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim is a rather well written simple fantasy, high school romance that tells the story of Doo Shim, who rejects her abilities, and would rather live a normal life, and Woo Soo, top student in Songyeong High School who gets himself involved in the supernatural shenanigans.Was I the target audience for this show? Definitely not. It caters to the younger demographic, and gives me quite a Disney show type of vibes - technically there is a message, but the lack of in depth perspective makes me not care that much.
With limited screen time, the writers did what they could to present a well structured and well paced story, that involves quite a number of characters and their side-plots. With a complex drama like this one, that presents the struggles of the main leads, their sweet romance, the demon hunting in school, revenge of the female lead, villain’s backstory and all the subplots of the students with the lowest grade, 20 minutes per episode with 12 episodes in total is just not enough. With that, some plotlines seemed rushed, some were barely touched, almost none of the characters had an actual depth.
I liked Doo Shim a lot. She had a nicely paced development, as she learned how to care for others and fight for the good. Straightforward, but caring. On the other hand, Woo Soo had little to offer - he was there as a romantic interest and for the sake of driving the plot forward. Sounds like a male lead taking over the usual job given to female leads.
The acting from the whole cast was good. Most roles were given to already popular actors with years of experience - even the two main leads. It could not go wrong in that department.
For a short drama like that, the quality of writing and pacing is still really good. Not gonna lie, the sweet, a bit cringey, but quite realistic teen romance gave me some flashbacks to my teenage years - sentimental vibes, but do I really want to remember the awkwardness that came with it? lol
Overall, it’s a fun, short story focused on presenting the fight between good and evil - both as external and internal conflicts. It sheds light on the competitive nature of high school experience in Korea, and how it looks different from the perspective of the adults (who claim it’s a good thing for teens) and kids themselves.
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