274
655
137
12
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12
3
10
32
6
14
1
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17
25
2
8
5
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5
7
1
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7
20
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36
Train to Busan with dogs.
They did not even try to make it original. It had the same framework as Train to Busan, that included the copy paste father-daughter relationship, but no heart and execution the former movie had.It's honestly sad this is one of the last projects from Lee Sun Kyun. Maybe if it was my first monster disaster movie, I would enjoy it more. Sadly, in the sea of other similar movies, it does not stand out on any level. The writing is mediocre, which leads to mediocre performances (there is a limit to how much acting can improve poorly written characters). The CGI was decent during some shots, and bad in others. The ending completely lacked any impact - be it in emotional or entertaining value. What's the worst? It completely lacked dynamic. Everything was gray, covered in mist and they did not utilize the place at all.
Anything good? There were a few fun scenes that made me chuckle. That's probably it.
Overall, it's just painfully mediocre and I do not understand how so many well known actors agreed to star in it.
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The star of the whole drama, both in terms of character’s writing and the portrayal was for sure Erek Lin as Amber. One of the truly refreshing and important stories to be told delivered with great skill. I appreciated how Amber’s identity was quite obvious from the start for the viewers, so we could see all the internal conflicts he was feeling from day one, and how it made it easier to understand him and his decisions by the end.
While I also enjoyed Pu Le Chien, I think his struggles were lost in the lacking storytelling. There were many moments perfect for setting up what’s to come in the 2nd half of the show, but none were used, so when the actual conflict happened, it did not feel earned in terms of writing. Sadly, I was not as impressed by Lukas Huang. I had no issues with the "daily life" scenes, but the more emotional ones felt over the top, often exaggerated by the facial expressions, with little emotions actually conveyed.
Surprisingly, by the end of the drama, I loved Hsieh Yu He. Not gonna lie, I was quite scared they would turn her into a typical jealous female character, as we often see in BLs, so it was a pleasant surprise that she was written with more nuance.
On the other hand, I could have done without Li Ching Lung and Guan Yu Chen - both not really interesting characters, at moments even unlikable. Their storyline brought little to nothing of value and seemed like a typical filler couple.
Production quality was good - many times there was a good use of the lighting creating a great atmosphere for the scene to happen. All that surrounded by an amazing, truly perfect soundtrack.
Overall, for sure one of the better BLs with important topics being brought into discussion and no over the top dramatic plot twists and scenes. More down to earth, falling closely to a slice of life genre.
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Supernatural thriller about human’s weak minds.
Surprisingly well crafted and presented story, that despite its simplicity, was able to keep me interested till the end.Expecting horror from this watch would be a mistake, and for me, the poster and the title were misleading in terms of the core focus of the movie - it’s not the wacky possession scenes Emily Rose style. The plot centers around the investigation of the missing kid - So Jin. While there is a fair share of creepy supernatural elements, the more important part is the human aspect.
How much are we willing to do in a dire situation? How easily can we be influenced and believe in unbelievable things when all the other options turned out to be futile? I felt like the true horror came from people, and not from the supernatural. Rather than a critical view on religious views, for me it spoke more on the desperation people face and how they are willing to try and believe anything as long as it might produce the needed results.
That said, I’m not the biggest fan of mixing different religions and folklore in one story (unless there is clear investigation of the origin that would validate it). A little bit of christianity here, some shamanism there, and big nothing big nothing by the end, since it’s neither one or the other in the conclusion.
The acting was rather good. I was not impressed with Shim Eun Kyung as Kang So Jin. She did not really have that much screen time, but the few scenes I have seen just did not convince me at all.
The production was good. Nothing outstanding and visually over the top. It had the usual thriller aesthetics with some darker suspense moments that were supposed to bring that horror out of it.
Overall, surprisingly fun to watch for such an overdone topic. Nothing new, but presented in a decent way.
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Improves with each episode.
Cherry Blossoms After Winter is not anything groundbreaking, it’s something we have seen in one form or the other countless times, but it is cute. Light and fun watch with some questionable directing in the first half.Here’s the thing, the second half was truly nice. The plot seemed to have the right pace, the scenes did not seem random, the dynamic between the leads was more clear and easy to understand. That said, the first (about) four episodes were just confusing directing wise. The plot was easy to follow, but how the specific scenes did not flow well was at times funny. Characters be talking about going grocery shopping, so I get excited to see some cute shopping scenes, just to get none of that. It felt like quite a number of times they were setting up a specific sequence of scenes, just to give up halfway through, and cut to something completely different.
The characters were fun. Hae Bom had a nice and realistic character development - it was presented in a gradual way. Realistically speaking, Tae Sung was there just to like Hae Bom. Hae Bom was the main character who had to face different external and internal conflicts. Not mad about it. With a short show like that, it’s better to focus more on just one character.
Acting wise, I am okay with what I got. The shock I felt when I found out the ages of the actors was something new. Being in your mid 20’ and 30 and still being a convincing teenage boy? That’s an achievement.
Production, as I said, improved in the second half. The show was better structured. Instead of trying to fit many random scenes in one episode, we get less, but better paced and developed moments and present the dynamics and relationship better.
Overall, I almost dropped it half way through. It just truly jumped around a lot and it felt like random cute scenes put together to create a typical BL show. It’s still a typical BL story, don’t get me wrong, but the quality improved a lot in the second half, and I was actually excited for the new episodes by the end.
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I could see they tried, but they failed.
This movie attempts to give us various plot twists based on the non-linear storytelling, character development of the female lead, who learns her ways when she experiences the treatment she served others, commentary about the clickbait culture and cheap journalism, and then fails them all. The only thing worth complimenting are a few scenery shots.Here’s the thing, you cannot make the female lead a trash human being and then try to make me care about her, while also not giving her any real, well written character development. The circumstances were there, she just did not react to anything with any sense of responsibility till the end of the movie. At first they introduce her as someone who values true journalism and tries to write about important topics, even if they are not popular in the clickbait social media. It does not take her even 3 minutes to completely change her attitude, trespassing on the accident site, moving around bodies to take pictures and stealing a necklace from the victim. And I was like... when exactly that change in her happened? Because it was never shown on screen. I honestly just wanted to see her dead.
The movie would also do better without any police involvement. That was a new level of idiocy, and I saw a fair share of dumb cops in dramas and movies. This tops it all.
U-Turn does not even try to build any type of atmosphere, there is literally no build up. They drop the ghost stalking the girl in the first few minutes, and then the whole movie is just copy-paste similar sequences.
As I said at the beginning, the only redeeming qualities were a few aesthetically pleasing scenes. The acting was good, but what’s the point of decent acting when the writing is worse than the grades I had in math in high school? And believe me, I had hit rock bottom then.
Overall, I would honestly not recommend it. It is not worth spending 1 hour and 30 minutes on it.
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EPISODE 1 - RENT
Probably the weakest of the episodes. Rather than scary, it was simply gross. Not only it contains animal cruelty, it feels like over the top edgy content, that crosses the lines just for the sake of the shock value. The plot itself was rather messy too, even with how short and simple it was.
EPISODE 2 - HUNGER
Horror with elements of comedy and a nice small plot twist that ends a well executed storyline. Saying that the opening made me confused would be an understatement, but everything made sense by the end. The narration made me laugh a few times, and even though it felt weird at times, it ended up as my favorite of the 4 stories.
EPISODE 3 - HIDE AND SEEK
Kids are creepy. Kids with masks are even creepier. This one gave me chills, but the shift of mood by the end caught me off guard and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Still, I enjoyed it a lot. The acting by the young cast was great, especially the main lead.
EPISODE 4 - TAXI
I'd view the story as a psychological themes packed in a horror genre. Pregnancy being a theme in horror is a bit off for me. I thought Rent was at times edgy, but one scene in Taxi was a whole new level of edge. I appreciate them trying to give the female lead a whole completed arc throughout these 20 minutes, and I think it's fair to say they have succeeded.
Overall, it's a short series of rather obvious horror stories that will not scare anyone. They are still entertaining to watch, some having nice twists to them.
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What a lovable mess this show is.
I don’t think I have any brain cells left to write this review, but at least I’m truly happy. I’m not even sure my brain can grasp what I have just watched.This drama is a pure form of entertainment. Name a trope, and you will find it here: hidden identity, crossdressing, male lead going from borderline psychopath to cute lovely sweet boy with the power of love, poisoning, double poisoning, fake identities, making masks from human faces, crucifying people on torture devices, raping girls on the wedding night (which was amazingly called "doing the nasty" in the show), almost biting someone's lips off... and there is more.
I love the separate cases the main leads dealt with, BUT the main plot that unfolded as the drama progressed was weak. I truly couldn't care less about all the past events. Maybe if it was shown as more of a vital part of the drama itself, I would be more engaged.
Our main leads were truly an amazing duo. After we got past Lu Yi abusing his position to abuse Jin Xia (dude literally kicking her injured leg at the beginning episodes) the romance became truly adorable. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, but the fact they made it into "enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers" just made me laugh my ass off.
That said, Jin Xia was an awesome character. She was smart, driven, hardworking, brave (when the situation needed it), forgiving but also funny and a bit over the top. I could not stop smiling whenever she was on the screen. She is just one of the characters that make you happy as you watch them grow.
I also appreciate the fact that the 2nd lead was so useless and annoying. Xie Xiao made the watch so much easier for me. No need to fear SLS. It won't happen.
I wished we saw more of Yan Shi Fan. I wanted to see more of his behind the scene schemes. There was something about how he dealt with things and interacted with people that made me more curious and interested, but I didn't get enough. I mean, the drama went into some details about his character. For example, I know he has a foot fetish: 6.6 inches is the best length. I just wished he was more integral to the story in the first half. Sometimes he was completely gone for a few episodes which made him less scary and imposing.
That said, the whole cast did a great job with the acting. Nothing felt over the top. The emotions were clearly visible and fitting for the scenes. I definitely felt the chemistry between all the characters and couples.
Objectively speaking, though, I should not rate it higher than 5. Some plot lines were just lazy. Whole Chun Yu Min story is questionable at best. Some directing choices were ridiculous. The underwater scenes (which also made me call the show "underwater wuxia") were iconic bad. This is CGI level -100. The weird close ups on characters' eyes were more often than not, too much and made me feel uncomfortable.
But... the show is what it is. It was crazy fun. I did not laugh so bad for ages. Binge watched it in a few days. Once I started watching, I could not stop. The entertainment value is as high as it can get. And for that, I don't feel bad about giving it 7.5. Not to mention, the opening soundtrack is beautiful.
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Live without regrets, without waiting for a chance that might never come.
I will be perfectly honest - if I have not seen the Korean version, did not know how the story goes and was able to experience it all for the first time watching the Japanese adaptation, I would rate it higher. Knowing all the twists and turns did take away from the excitement I could have felt.With that, I would for sure recommend not even looking at the Korean version and just watching this one. It’s better in almost all areas.
Starting with the story - cutting the number of episodes to 10 was a wise choice. The pacing has to be tight to keep the tension up. At the same time, they managed not to bombard me with rage-inducing scenes one after another, giving me time to breathe and calm down with heartwarming moments between leads, but also truly adorable scenes of growing friendship between Misa, Yuriko and Miku. I don’t know how, but they were able to seemingly blend borderline telenovela and slice of life and all the scenes had perfect flow and smooth transitions.
I truly appreciate how, despite the crazy plot, the whole show felt weirdly grounded in reality. All thanks to the characters’ writing. Four main leads truly felt like real people rather than exaggerated caricatures of cliche tropes (as they did in the Korean version). Kanbe Misa was not as much of a pushover in her second life as I thought she would be. Suzuki Wataru, while still ridiculously perfect, had that goofy side to him that made it a bit more believable. And both Esaka Reina and Hirano Tomoya were not as psychotic (this is one of the aspects I actually liked in the Korean version more - Soo Min was just a different level of evil).
Most big plot moments were delivered in just the right time, with just the right amount of flare and drama. The execution was close to perfection in hitting these highlights. Wish it had more romance? I guess cutting episodes means removing some aspect, they did leave all the important bits in, and it's more about Kanbe Misa and her journey anyway, but damn I wished to see more romantic scenes, because Satoh Takeru is just that hot.
Acting wise, as much as I love Satoh Takeru and I truly believe he aced the role, the true star was undoubtedly Koshiba Fuka. I believed every tear, every smile, every smirk and every line. Be it happiness, sadness, anger, helplessness or hopefulness, frustration, excitement, surprise, confusion - she hit the right note for every emotion. She also looked freaking stunning!
As for visuals - beautiful. Aesthetic feast. The best aspect? Lighting. The way they just knew when to film to make the sceneries look better - no words to describe how grateful I am. Indoors, outdoors, morning, night - no matter when or where, they did their best to give us the most stunning views.
Random specific things I enjoyed a lot/liked better than Korean version:
First of all, the conclusion they gave for Kanbe Misa and Esaka Reina was extremely satisfying, had more depth and actual emotional impact than the original version.
Not name dropping BTS for cloud (or any other popular group). I am sorry, but that “favorite song” moment in the Korean version was so ridiculous and cringe worthy I borderline wanted to drop the drama because of it.
Suzuki Wataru not being a “barely emoting wall of perfection”. It was so good to see all these emotions clearly visible on Satoh Takeru’s face.
The views! Again, I am amazed with how beautiful this drama looked.
Overall, yes I am aware this review focuses a lot on comparing this show with the Korean version, but I honestly want to make it clear that if one has to pick one over the other - they should go with the Japanese version first. Even though the drama is literally about getting a second chance, at the end of the day it sends a clear message that one should not wait for a miracle to happen, and should start living the life they want to live now - no regrets, no hesitation, no doubt.
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It should have been a game of wits (on Tae Soo's side) and will (on Bok Sun's side), but the chase between them barely took place. We've got a serial killer being used by his family members and Bok Sun trying to run away and be safe with Na Ri, whom she started treating as her sister. It's hard to even say this movie had much tension, because every time something interesting happened, we were back to some useless side plot lines.
That said, the acting was quite good. Especially closer to the end, Min Ki truly gave the "monster "vibes" and delivered a creepy performance. Overall, rather than a terrifying killer, he looked like a loser.
I didn't quite understand the tone the director and writer wanted to give this film. The differences between funny, bright and silly moments with Bok Sun did not match the serial killer gore and craziness of Tae Soo, and that did not match the family dynamics happening in the side plot. All the new scenes got me out of the mood the previous scene had gotten me into.
Overall, I kind of had fun, but because of the synopsis I kept anticipating the fight off between the two main characters and the cat and mouse chase, when I don't really know who the cat and who the mouse is... but it never truly happened.
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Exciting yet strangely empty.
I do understand how amazing the movie is and how it’s probably worth a 9+ rating. I cannot move on from the fact everyone sucked in it. On a personal level I just did not enjoy watching it that much, because I did not like any of the characters and honestly wanted them all to fail.It's an interesting story about a complex scheme, but it also lacks any lesson for me. It was just an exciting watch and that’s it. High on tension and well paced to keep the interest (though I would prefer it being a bit shorter). Great cinematography - it looked expensive. Not to mention, they were able to visually present taking exams and cheating in a really dramatic way - that’s a big plus for me. Good directing and editing can make paint drying on the wall exciting.
Sadly, this is a movie I forget in a week. It won’t leave any lasting effect on me. At the end I will most likely associate it with a strong feeling of frustration and annoyance towards the characters. Lynn for going on a high horse - just because she learned the lesson, does not mean she can force that onto others, who were in fact more screwed over than her. Bank for learning wrong lessons and acting surprisingly dumb for a genius. Grace and Pat for just being assholes with no care for others whatsoever.
Overall, it’s a movie that the majority of people will love. One that is for sure worth recommendation. And yet, for someone like me who values the attachment I create with characters, this failed my expectations.
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They should rename this movie "Missed Opportunity".
Not gonna lie, I am quite disappointed, especially after reading the synopsis. I was ready for some complex story that pushes the viewer into a state of constant questioning of what is real and what's just a part of the broken imagination of the female lead... Well, I did not get that. If they just kept it a bit more vague and made sure Mi Ju is actually present during all the "supernatural" occurrences, it would be so much better. But since a lot of crazy things happened even without her being near, the answer is given to the viewer. When trying to create a story that can be left to the interpretation of the viewers, you need to be careful as you craft it. They were not.One of the biggest flaws of "Cello" was the acting. I don't know how much of it I can blame on the actual acting skills (or lack of them) and how much blame can be put on the "acting style" that might have been more popular in 2000'. Either way, it was not good. The line delivery felt awkward in a lot of scenes and it took me out of any suspense they tried to create.
The plot was just a clusterf***. For such a short movie, they introduced too many characters we were supposed to care about. Why add the husband's sister? Or the "blackmailing" student? None of the plotlines were necessary and only took the precious minutes away from the main character and the development of whatever supernaturally or mentally was happening to her.
Overall, I would probably not recommend it. There was nothing exciting, innovative or interesting in this movie. If anything, it left me frustrated, because the concept was good, but the execution of it just failed.
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The story of how a sense of support can give you a ray of hope for better tomorrow and strength to work your way up. Overcoming the struggles, accepting defeat and putting it behind you so you can move forward. Welcoming someone into your world and heart and being able to say goodbye. This movie has quite a lot of truly emotional messages wrapped in a nice, simple storyline with a big heart.
The acting was amazing. Jo Jung Suk has this ability to make me hate his character with my whole heart at first, to later make me love and adore him. Doo Sik's treatment of Doo Young at the beginning got my blood boiling, but the gradual and solid character development done with his character made me care for him far more than I expected.
Do Kyung Soo's scene after the final match broke me for a few good minutes. It amazes me how natural he is with the craft of acting. Kim Kang Hyun's character was a lighter touch to the story, perfectly balancing the comedy and drama. Even Park Shin Hye did a good job, portraying a coach who is not willing to give up on Doo Young.
Overall, I didn't expect to like it that much, but I truly fell for its charm and the well written characters. The portrayal of mental struggle after facing a tragedy was done in a realistic way that made me feel the pain the characters' were showing. Rather than painfully sad, it's a touching story that will make you cry your eyes off, but won't leave you in a depressive mood.
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The greatest thing about this drama is how small the cast is and how natural and well built are the interactions between everyone. We only have three characters in the special missing person team: Soo Hyeon, Dae Yeong and Seo Jun and it makes perfect sense. Special team that has to be mobile while they take cases from many different places, why would there be more people? With high profile cases like the ones they dealt with, they would simply work with local police if they needed back up.
I truly enjoyed the set up. The dynamics between the characters were good - every one of them had a distinctive but realistic personality and they all played off of each other well. I also want to praise Seon Jun’s character. They could have easily made her hacker and nothing more. The girl has a brain of her own though. She does not just wait to “google” whatever the detectives ask her, she does the investigation too and helps solve cases.
Sadly, in my opinion, there were some mistakes made in the planning. The first case the group has taken was so amazing, interesting and attention grabbing, all the rest felt a bit flat. From Kang Ha Neul’s performance, to the “saw” like setting of the crime scenes, up to the mind games and plot twists - everything was perfect. All the rest though...they were still good, but nowhere near as good as the first one.
The writers also strongly hinted at a big mystery around Soo Hyeon, but as the drama progressed, we got barely any new information about it, and the attention to it was brought back only around episode 7. It was never properly explained nor concluded. You could say this plot hole was deeper than the Mariana Trench. It would be far better if we got some small hints here and there. I felt like the writers forgot about the subplot they themselves introduced.
Concerning that plot line, the writers could have played a bit more into the forming relationship and trust issues between Soo Hyeon and Dae Yeong. The culmination of the “bonding” was not as impactful as it could have been and how they dealt with the aftermath was quite poor.
Even with some of the flaws I saw in the drama, I still would say it’s a show worth checking out. The overall plot was well paced, the cases seemed realistic (for the Korean crime shows), most of them had nicely planned plot twists, some more, some less predictable. The production value was fine, some typical crime show mistakes like looking for clues in a room with really dark sunglasses on (sure he saw a lot with them on), but not big enough to make anyone frustrated, annoyed and angry.
That ending though… it was something else.
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The chemistry between the whole cast was amazing. Not only the romance felt real, but all the interactions between the rest of the characters were realistic and well portrayed.
It's a well written story about love, finding self worth, emotional manipulation and overcoming a trauma. I'm extremely glad I did not read the synopsis, so when it was relieved, Gi Tae is also a gang member, I was honestly surprised and did not see that coming. With the innocent and pure aura Yeon Seung Ho gives off, I could not even imagine him working in such a profession.
With a plot like that, it's easy to make it seem cheap or over the top and way too dramatic than necessary, yet here, it was executed perfectly. I never felt that the situation the main characters are in is ridiculous and unrealistic. Because the whole story was kept local, with a small cast of the characters, it seemed simply believable.
Overall, I am quite surprised I enjoyed the dramas as much as I did. The acting of emotional scenes from both main actors were done in an outstanding way and I could feel the angst oozing from my screen.
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[ Fox Valley ]
I liked the idea and the introduction to the story. The scenes made me feel uncomfortable and anxious, but with the alien sex scene, it lost all the charm and became a joke of itself. I love dark humor and horror comedy, if done right. This was not.
[ Road Rage ]
Probably my favorite out of all the stories and the reason is quite simple: it was realistic. The things that truly may happen in real life are far scarier than anything abstract and supernatural. The plot by the end made a full circle and it was enjoyable to watch. The switch of characteristics between the characters was a good plot point, which was nicely executed.
[ Machine Ghost ]
This part was also well done, but made the leading story that much more confusing with the styling of the robots. That said, I always welcome a story that dwells on the themes of consciousness, free will and what makes a human human. When does the robot stop being a commodity to be used by people and should be treated as its own being deserving rights that will protect him? Since the story is short, it is not a deep dive into such a broad topic, but it highlights some interesting aspects.
Overall, I would say it was worse than the 1st movie, but better than the 2nd. The leading story was quite ridiculous and I truly disliked the costumes and set design. It looked like a low-budget sci-fi movie.
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