Kate

Lost the campy quality trying to take itself a bit too seriously.

This is not a good movie, but it could have been fun to watch, if it did not try to be a good movie. And if it tried to be more of a horror and less of a make out sessions compilation.

I’m not even joking, it feels like there were more ass, boobs, make out, shower masturbation scenes then the actual kills, gore and scares. Lower budget horror movies can be fun, often are, but they need to understand what actually works for the audience. Yes, “sexy horrors” are a thing, but you need to keep the balance between hot ladies and them dying.

The whole set up was more or less useless and way too long. Why they are going on the trip, how they are going on the trip, who took them to the resort - it took just the first 10 minutes of the movie, but with how it was written and directed, it felt like 30. The whole movie was not dynamic enough. There was no real tension.

On the bright side, I do like how who died when made logical sense. The local cannibal did use their brains during some sense, and I appreciate how we get an actual explanation why they kept the leads for the last. Another big props for the married couple - that was a solid way to go. Approved.

As for the acting - god no. Funny enough, there were moments when it felt really natural, then I was hit with the robotic delivery, to end on unreasonable screaming and overexaggerated reactions.

The blood and practical effects were not bad. Even good for the last confrontation. Mostly the issue was not the props, but how they were used by the actors that felt off.

Overall, it’s a movie.

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The destiny of your own making.

What a pleasant surprise - well done tropes, little fun changes to established often used plotlines and themes, the variety of the characters with vibrant personalities and experiences. No unnecessary additional murder mystery that drags the whole plot, no family drama no one cares about. It has exactly all that romantic comedy needs and nothing else. And that’s perfect.

And what does romantic comedy need? First and foremost: romance. Whenever we are talking about leads, second main leads or just supporting characters, they serve and deliver. Shin Woo Yeo and Lee Dam gave me a perfect example of fighting against all odds, defying destiny. I especially loved how they used the red string of fate in the drama (not only in context of leads) - be it to add more angst and internal (and external) conflict, give closure to certain plotlines, or expand on presented themes. Probably the best use of red string I have seen in dramas for ages.

Usually I really dislike the “innocent, inexperienced, pure female lead”, but here I cannot even be mad about it, because it was fitting the context, and while she was inexperienced in love, she was not naive in terms of other relationships. They did not make her dumb in all areas to show how little she knows about love, and that is something we usually don’t see. I truly appreciate the variety of experiences presented depending on the characters. Some were experienced in both love and casual dating, some were inexperienced in one, but more experienced in the other, some were inexperienced in both. That’s why female leads “innocence” (for the lack of better term) was not that annoying, and did not stand out too much - she was just one type of many we witnessed.

Then we had Shin Woo Yeo and I adore how imperfect he was. The boy had flaws, major ones. He got jealous and not in a cute way. He was egocentric in his thinking, made many mistakes trying to find an easy and quick way out of complex situations, his communication skills could left a lot to desire and even when he was literally told straight to his attractive face what someone expects and what would hurt them, he confidently more often than not made the wrong choice. All that made him much more interested character.

Then we have the recycled trash Gye Sun Woo - cannot believe, with what he did, I still somehow ended up liking him by the end. This ain’t your loyal puppy second male lead. He would for sure fit the cold main lead who turns soft by the female lead role more. And it’s so refreshing to see this trope being placed into the role of simping over a female lead with no choice of getting her - it’s like reliving your youth with Gu Jun Pyo getting what he deserves. All that said, even though I would never get on this ship, I also love how there was in fact great chemistry between Sun Woo and Lee Dam - maybe in a different drama life this could work.

All I can say about Yang Hye Sun and Do Jae Jin is that they were the most adorable characters ever. The fact I love both Kim Do Wan and Kang Han Na made it even easier to adore the characters they played. They were kind of a reverse version of the main leads, but not a complete copy just switched. Do Jae Jin, while innocent, was not inexperienced. Yang Hye Sun while experienced in love and the heartbreak that comes with it, was still open to romance and innocent. While they mirrored the “one more experience than the other” dynamic of Shin Woo Yeo and Lee Dam, their different personalities led them to completely different choices and attitudes.

Then we have a whole cast of well written supporting characters with their tiny twists. Choi Soo Kyung was for sure the comedic relief, but her character was also established to be extremely smart. Younger siblings of the leads were not the annoying teens, you could see the family bond even through the bickering. Jung Suk almost had no screen time, but still did not feel like a filler character - be it his friendship with Lee Dam or connection with Soo Kyung, even if not many, his scenes were also fun to watch.

Not all characters were as well written though. We could not escape dumb bullies who gossip, because they have no other thing to do and have low self-esteem. There are just some things in k-dramas you cannot avoid.

Plot wise, I appreciate how long they did not fully explain how the male lead can turn into a human. Not that I’ve put a lot of mental power to try to figure it out myself, I was just taking whatever they were showing with little neurons firing in my brain - but that tiny mystery had solid pacing that I was curious "how it works", without being annoyed how long it takes to get the answers. All the plots got proper closure, some expanded and explored more than others, but the ratio of how much we see of each point was well balanced, without random slide quests overshadowing the main story.

The acting was mostly great. I enjoyed how the actors were able to present many instinctively viewed as contradictory traits and made me feel like the characters still made sense. Shin Woo Yeo was not interested in humans and love, yet he was still a rather warm person even at the beginning of the story. Lee Dam was innocent and inexperienced in love, but strong and assertive in her relationships, Yang Hye Sun had that sophisticated air around her, when she was in fact on the little dummy side, Do Jae Jin was highly emotional, but at the same time emotionally strong. It’s really not that easy to present characters like that without making the audience feel like their personalities change to whatever the story needs to at any given time.

In terms of production value or soundtrack - all adequate to the story they tried to tell, but not mind blowing in any way. Do not remember one song nor any scene that was especially visually stunning.

Overall, for sure one of the better rom-coms in recent years. Why? Because it did not try to be more than that. It did not try to blend 643857485 different genres jumping from one theme to another. The story was simple, but told in an engaging manner, the characters were easy to love, the romance was romancing.

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When editing kills the tension.

This actually could have been a decent simple horror movie if it was not for the poor editing... and sound design. From the opening scene, it was distracting. No, the footsteps with no other sound did not add to an eerie atmosphere - they sounded like someone was chopping wood.

So like, everyone sucks and that includes the victim. How many times do you need to get screwed by your bestie to see how much of a coward and asshole she is? She just wanted to be a victim or something. At least Lee Yoon Soo's acting was good, even if the character was rather dumb.

Still it had some good moments - the deaths were "fun", well filmed and directed. I enjoyed a lot of the shots, just not how they were put together. The editing was too slow, not sharp enough especially for the jump scares.

Overall, many better ones have more or less the same plot.

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Why was it 4 different movies in one?

I might be biased (probably am) since I really enjoyed the first Death Whisperer, but this was just so all over the place I found it hard to focus on any plotline. It truly felt like 4 different movies put into one:
Ghoul man story.
Yak ghost hunter story.
The family still being haunted as they try to move on from all that happened in the first movie.
The Dad 2.0, Asshole and Coward family trio.

And realistically speaking, the only 2 parts I cared about were Yak and his family. Everything else seemed like an unnecessary convoluted way to make the movie longer than needed. The whole part of the woods with the new set of characters was boring, because these characters were simply awful to watch.

Sure the gore and how characters died was just as "fun" as in the first movie, but way less impactful on the emotional side. I kind of wanted a lot of these people to die there...

The acting was good for the most part. Nadech Kugimiya plays such a fun and cheeky character I would not mind a whole drama of his character going on ghost hunting trips Winchesters style.

Overall, this could have worked, maybe as a short series. Too many things happened in too short of a period of screentime.

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Surprisingly dark, surprisingly approachable.

For a drama that tackles a whole list of triggering topics, it had quite a way to put a smile on my face.

While the first half is quirky in the presentation, the second half loses a bit of that charm, diving deeper into the realistic approach. One has to be extremely careful when presenting a story built on misfortune and struggles to not make the audience feel completely hopeless and drained from all energy, while also making it tactful - what jokes are appropriate and which ones could cross the line and make fun of the issues. Definitely Not Today does quite a good job keeping the balance. Keep in mind though: a lot of triggering elements like assault, attempted suicide are shown in rather straightforward manner.

To be honest, I kept thinking how unhinged the drama truly is. The way it presented Mi Chong’s constant suicide attempts with his peculiar, emotionally detached narration surprised me, but in a positive way. The same story presented in a hyper realistic manner would break me into pieces and I would fall into eternal drama slump buried under mild depressive thoughts. Going wacky and unconventional was the good approach - the message is the same, the heart is the same, but you don’t end up in a gloomy mood when you watch it.

What we get is a heartwarming and at times funny journey of two people with a lot of emotional baggage who learn how to appreciate living, how to trust others and show care for people around them. Who learn how to receive and give help. People who learn how to live.

Performance wise, I fell in love with Leon Leong. His depiction of Mi Chong was so heartbreaking, even in his more lethargic state, you could sense the pain and struggle behind the odd narration. Vivienne Tien did an amazing job presenting both the strong and confrontational, but also vulnerable and scared side of Zhi Liao. Complicated characters presented in a skillful manner.

Undeniably the directing and editing help the story a lot. The silly drawings during some scenes, wacky editing, quick cuts between shots - all added to that bizarre, but weirdly relatable feeling.

Overall, great drama. I only wish they kept more of the lighter tone of the directing and editing in the second half.

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Simple, yet surprisingly entertaining.

I went into it expecting a low budget, ridiculous supernatural horror with questionable CGI and awful acting. What I’ve got was a simple yet well presented story with good acting and decent CGI.

I’m gonna say it - this is basically a supernatural horror GL. No one is going to convince me otherwise. The two main ladies were in love with each other and it could not be more apparent. While technically Mei Lin was the main character, I actually liked Yin Xing more - she was smart, loyal and badass. What more can I ask for?

The plot is exactly what the synopsis says and nothing more. They don’t add any true details to make the story more complex - you will get what you expect. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a perfect movie for a late evening when you want to be entertained.

As I said, the acting was surprisingly good. The emotional scene hit well, the actresses were not awkward during the green screen moments, so even if the cgi could (and should) be improved, the end result was still quite passable. Honestly? I saw worse CGI in more mainstream dramas with big budgets.

What to improve? The ending. Last scene rolled and my reaction was - wait… that’s it? I did get a conclusion, just not the one I wanted.

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Simple yet refreshing, staying away from some well known cliches and tropes we often see in Korean crime shows. Surprisingly, the strength of the drama lies not in the thrilling plot, but rather the heartwarming connections and relationships the characters form with each other.

Not gonna lie, I did struggle a bit watching the first few episodes. It was not bad, it just did not hold my attention. You know how some shows start with amazing first few episodes and then fall into a writing dark hole and misery? Nobody Knows is a rare case of the opposite - starts just fine and only gets better with every episode.

What to love? The variety of friendships and partnerships formed between the characters. The really gradual, but undeniable character developments that are not exaggerated. Strong and empathic female lead, who charmed me with her badassery and emotional maturity. Male lead that overcomes his flaws and trauma and learns how to care about others again. Teens that seem more mature than adults in their approach to life, hardships, unjust behavior and learning from your own mistakes. It’s rare to see a crime drama where the characters are the core of the story and the thing that will keep you glued to the screen.

Sadly, as much as I loved the writing of the protagonists, I cannot say I enjoyed the villains as much. Rather one dimensional and cliche. Sure, delivered some exciting scenes and carried the crime side of the show, but definitely did not present the same level of complexity and depth as the good guys. And with how disappointing that aspect was, the overall plot suffered too and it was especially evident in the last episode.

Luckily, everyone’s performance was stellar. From the older and more experienced cast to the teens and kids - solid acting with some nice nuances in delivery.

Production wise it was great. Loved the soundtrack, the tones and editing - all creating a coherent picture and style.

Overall, not exactly addicting and thrilling making you binge watch, but somehow making you curious to continue watching at your own pace.

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Two full semesters of developmental psychology flashed before my eyes as I was watching…

And with that, I just could not with this romance. That said, the drama was still extremely entertaining and fun to watch and had a lot of other great elements working for me quite well.

What I loved about it was the whole supportive community around Yuri - each and every character trying to help him, putting aside their own feelings. It was heartwarming and extremely enjoyable to watch. I especially loved his interactions with two 2nd male leads.

I also appreciated Harumi Junko in the context of her work - slowly learning how to enjoy what she does, what her strengths are and how she can motivate her students to strive for improvement and enjoy learning.

Sadly, it was hard to watch her in terms of romance. Being indecisive when you don’t know how you feel about people around you is one thing, but with her, she knew she has little to no romantic interest for the guys, yet still did not set proper boundaries for quite some time. Not only the truly questionable age gap (the romance became legal literally almost at the end of the show), but also the female lead’s personality made me not really interested in her journey to a happy relationship. Not to mention the lack of chemistry between her and the male lead.

The acting was quite good. It’s a rare case when the cast truly matches the age of the characters they are playing (we all know that mid 20’ actors usually play all the characters in the late teens to 40’), which helped a lot with creating a realistic portrayal.

I don’t really have much to say about the production - it’s a rom-com and it fits the standards of the good quality one.

Overall, it works better as a motivational and heartwarming slice of life than romance drama.

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There are some movies that are obviously cheaply made, but you can see that at least some people cared while making them. This ain’t that. No one gave a shit about how the end product is going to look like.

The production was just awful. The continuation of movements and even the pacing of the walk was off almost every time the camera cut to a different angle. There is no excuse for the bad CGI either. Youtubers who do special effects as a hobby at home on their laptops can deliver better results.

Don’t get me started on the storytelling. Literally there was no way of differentiating between the present time line and flashbacks. And I truly mean no way. It made everything painfully confusing. You kind of need to guess what scene belongs where and what is the past and what is part of the present.

Where was the demon fighting? Where was the action? Where was the doom? It was all a basic love story. That horror genre is a joke and should be changed to romance…

Overall, while the performances were decent, everything around them was not even mediocre.

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So, it was not a comedy?

Halfway through the movie I truly had to go check the genres, because I could swear it’s a cheaply made comedy that was supposed to jab at some social issues and horror tropes. To my surprise, the comedy genre was nowhere to be seen.

Kuta did one thing well, and one thing only - they truly presented the characters as realistic and annoying social media influencers. They were surprisingly realistically written. Sadly the performances were mediocre at best, awful at worst. I mean, one side character literally laughed at the joke he was supposed to deliver for the viewers…

The directing was quite chaotic. The mix of found footage and normal filming is always annoying. You show me all the vlogs to give that feeling for realism, but then the other half of the movie is shot in a normal fashion? Either commit to the found footage or not.

The worst thing about this movie was how bored I was watching. The writing, directing, filming, editing… nothing truly holds viewers attention.

Overall, saying it was mediocre would be a compliment.

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Maybe it’s a good movie, but the initial character introduction and the set up for the plot was so long I lost interest and struggled to focus on the plot later on. The movie is only 1 hour and 30 minutes long, so why did it feel like a 3 hour deal?

On paper the script probably sounded like a fun quirky comedy with a twist. Yet, it was not really that fun, the pee and puke jokes were juvenile and the twist was obvious from the start.

Random complaint, but the color grading was truly not my style. Everything was orange/yellow, the color saturation too high, but at the same time the whole movie felt dim and dark. It just felt heavy for the eye.

On the bright side, the acting was truly solid and I loved the job makeup artist and practical effects team did on the ghost.

Overall, I guess it’s just not a movie for me. I can see it being a fun watch as long as it’s viewed by the target audience.

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Dark heartwarming comedy drama - mix I never thought could work.

Korea back at it again - making completely unrelatable scenarios feel relatable. The emotions were raw, the characters complex and the story both warm and heartbreaking.

It was unexpectedly funny. Yes, I know it was tagged with the comedy genre, but honestly speaking, many drama comedies have more bitter sweet takes on what’s supposed to be funny. Here, I actually smiled and laughed quite a few times. The story was dark and yet they managed to create some funny moments even from quite gore and violence driven situations.

The best part of the movie was for sure the (in my eyes) one sided connection between Tae In and Cho Hee. The way Yoo Ah In presented the character of Kim Tae In was both beautiful and painful. A character that seemed to give up on everything, just following whatever others told and not presenting even a slight of active behavior. The gradual and minimal and yet impactful change we see after he had to take care of Cho Hee was amazing to watch.

That said, I think it’s a movie you have to read the synopsis for. I honestly don’t think it would be obvious and easy to understand Cho Hee’s character if it was not for what I read about the plot. She is the center of the plot and one of the main characters, so the vague understanding of who she is that we get from the movie itself, could have been improved.

Acting wise - perfection. Yoo Ah In did not say one word during the whole movie, and yet I perfectly understood what he wanted to convey during his scenes. Moon Seung Ah did a phenomenal job with her portrayal of Cho Hee - a character so complex I am amazed a child was able to deliver a believable performance.

On the production side, I don’t think any compliments can truly express how beautiful the movie was. The wide shots gave such a warm and, strangely slice of life feeling, that grounded the movie in reality, even with the not so mundane plot.

Overall, a great movie with great performances and amazing visuals. One that I could easily recommend to anyone.

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This movie is painfully 3D.

It’s so over the top, I honestly think I would get sick if I watched it in 3D in a cinema. Honestly, the makers had no chill. They thought “What elements can we make in 3D?” and went with the answer “all”. Because of that it feels as if the whole movie was done on a green screen…

It just felt cheap? It feels closer to 2004 than 2014 production. Technically speaking, with good storytelling and production this could be a horror movie with a social message… Sadly the delivery of… everything was off.

It just borrowed plot lines, stories and twists from other horror movies without adding anything new and refreshing.

Overall, rather skippable. It's one of the movies that ends I the viewer has little thoughts about it.

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Gory and gimmicky to the point of comedy.

Sadly, I’m disappointed. While it still was a fun and entertaining watch, season 2 lost the unique and eerie atmosphere season 1 was able to create. Too much blood, ripping of the skin and flesh - they even shot an arrow with an eye being attached on top of it. None of the scenes were shocking, unique, memorable - it was all about giving more action and more blood.

I’m not gonna lie, I do not watch Kingdom for the plot. It’s not new, fresh, complex nor groundbreaking. It's the same old court politics and struggle for power we have seen thousands of times. The court plot was literally the weakest part of the series, and yet it was the focus.

The characters also lost some brain cells in this season. Too many stupid decisions and actions for the sake of creating visually appealing shots. How many characters can just stand there watching the horde of zombies running straight to kill them, just so we can have that 3 seconds beautiful shot?

Queen’s arc and conclusion? Anticlimactic at best. We got to the end of it and all I could think about was: that’s it?

That said, it was not all bad. The action scenes were great. They found just the right balance between the dimmed light and enough visibility so we can actually witness the fights without losing the atmosphere. Throughout the whole show the lighting was just a masterpiece of its own. The way they worked with light and shadows was just beautiful.

The acting was exactly what we could expect from the cast - brilliant in most cases. Kim Hye Joon felt flat in some scenes, and I wished to see a bit more expression from her character.

Overall, it lost the impact season 1 created, but was still a fun and entertaining watch. It got quite a few laughs out of me.

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What a confusing structure and plot progression…

So much happened, so little made sense. It’s a mix of prison break, enemies cooperation (really short lived), military/medical experiments - and it all feels like a long first episode for a drama. It’s not like the movie did not have a solid ending, the whole plot seems like just a beginning.

First of all I feel scammed. What is Seo In Guk doing in the main cast? If we talk about the actual plot, these are only 2 main characters. Then the whole first half could not exist and it makes no sense it was so long. Literally everything that happens in the first half is more or less inconsequential in the second half. There is an extremely sharp turn and cut as to where the story goes that made me think - so what was the point of watching the first hour?

I saw some people praising the action scenes, but realistically speaking there was maybe one good one closer to the end. The rest was just said “monster” taking everyone down with little to no effort. Yes, the movie was heavy on gore, blood, but it was not really that heavy on proper action. By all means it gave me a slasher vibes.

I don’t want to talk about the set up of the story because… what was it? They did not even try to make it believable. And I’m not even talking about the monster, I’m talking about the cops being idiots. You cannot first claim there are 20 police officers with all 10+ years of experience, to then make them act worse than rookies.

The villain/villains were generic with generic motivations. Comedic in their “evilness”.

Yes, the performances were great, but what’s the point when the story was bad?

Overall, This should have been 2 separate movies, or it should have been two first episodes of the larger show. In current format it’s weak, underdeveloped and confusing (directing an structure, not story wise).

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