Reviews

A REAL TEAR-JERKER!!

A 9 / 10 family drama!
It's very difficult to rate such a work which depicts a slice of Life n Reality. U can't really give a number to emotions n relationships.
(Story, Direction, Pacing n Acting is 10/10
But on a positive note, Personally, Re-watch is only 9 or less bcz I don't want to watch suffering n sad reality again n again 😓)

***
Beautifully Directed and Acted✨

Started Slow Paced but as the story progresses, U will engage yourself completely into their situation n U feel connected emotionally.

Every Scene is Heart-warming deeply🥰 or Sentimental that hits Hard😒

The Story is a Simple Scenario but a Harsh Reality that U find in many of the households in this modern age n U can connect at a personal level throughout the movie.

***
Rightly Captured Emotions, Good or Bad, of Every Character from their point of view like:

The abandoned grandma living all alone for years, meeting her kids once a while on festive days, happy for just that day n depressed the next day when everyone is back to their daily routine life, Grief during illness n being without much care from the family.
(Meanwhile the disease n related pains are heart-wrenching to watch 😐 - that scene where grandma is calling out her parents n grandparents due to unbearable pain😭)

M started visiting his grandma only after knowing about her illness, expecting to inherit her assets n trying to act very caring n faking love.
(In the end, he changed)

Even the two sons acting the same in expectation of assets.

***
Greed for Money (elder son n M) n financial troubles (younger son) takes over human values (ignoring one's responsibility of an elderly mom on death bed n abandoning her) n deteriorating familial bonds (choosing money over love).

Grandma all dressed up n waiting for her kids to visit her but disheartened when they don't show up, breaks the viewer's heart😒

A constant battle of different emotions - Greed (Human thinking in poor financial conditions or abandoning responsibility) n Grief (during illness n being without care from family)
Vs Expectations due to Love, Morals n Responsibilities

***
Every actor in their role, performed well

Billkin n Tu are cool😀
Lil Baby gal (grand daughter) is a cutie pie😍
Granny actress is pretty with that beaded glasses 🤭

Bonding of Grandma n grandson is sweet.

The "Selfie Filters" or that cute fun moment of her with M, regarding unbuttoning the last button of her blouse, reminded me of my own granny 😀
Back then😐, We teased our Grandma in her 70s, as a "Pretty Woman" for which she blushes everytime🥰

***
Finally, M realised what is more important between Money n a Familial bond.

The Ending is Very Sweet.
M did buy his granny a "New House" as per her last wish n as promised in his childhood👌🏻 😭🤧

***
An everyday scenario (especially regarding taking care of old people), just a slice of real life but it explains an entire lifetime worth content.

This movie reminds of what is happening in the society now-a-days n surely not only makes one to connect being in the situation of one of the characters but also makes one to introspect! 👍🏻

A REAL TEAR-JERKER!!

A Must-Watch family drama! 👌🏻

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"Here the peace is preserved by hiding the truth"

Joint Security Area showcased how people are still people even when their ideologies clash. They enjoy talking, drawing, playing games, and can be both heroic and cowardly. Set along the DMZ it related how four men tried “to open the dam to reunification.”

Swiss officer Sophie Jean arrives in South Korea to conduct a neutral investigation on an incident involving one South Korean soldier and three North Korean soldiers, two of which were killed. Warned that “a spark in a dry forest could burn the whole forest down,” she was told that the what wasn’t as important as the why. Sgt Lee is in custody stating that he was kidnapped and confessed to killing the soldiers during an escape. North Korean Sgt Oh gave a different story stating that the SK soldier attacked them. Sophie faced a network of conflicting eye witness accounts not seen since Rashomon.

The investigation scaffolding of the movie was the least interesting part of it, exasperated by heavily accented and stilted English speaking skills. It would not have been as big of a problem for me, except that the version I watched had no subtitles for the English, meaning I missed about half of what they said. It felt like the investigators purpose was to fill the viewer in on Korean history and the complications of working on the border.

What made this movie fascinating to watch was the slowly evolving illicit friendship between the two South Korean guards (Lee and Nam) and the North Korean guards (Oh and Jung). They shared gifts, gossip, and laughter. Ever present though was the tension between the two countries reminding them of how dangerous their shared time was. Song Kang Ho as Sgt. Oh gave a beautifully complex performance as the more experienced soldier who still possessed empathy. Lee Byung Hun’s Sgt. Lee was less mature and quicker to draw. With an overabundance of foreshadowing the writing was on the wall regarding the fate of the friends which made their time together all the more poignant.

The military scenes showed the lack of training some of the soldiers had. When Lee went off to relieve himself he either didn’t tell his squad or they didn’t do a head count as they retreated. There was also an awful lot of “battle rattle” where equipment wasn’t taped down properly to allow the troops to move more silently.

Joint Security Area highlighted how all men are brothers but also often enemies. The central part of the film sharing the men’s bromance was wonderfully comforting, which unfortunately made the fall all the more painful in the end.


27 April 2025
Trigger warning: Full frontal nudity of a male body in the morgue.

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Cunty sweet gay musical/short film

I don’t have much to say about this since its so short but this movie is so far ahead of its time and I know i’m not the first one to say that about this short film.

I knew Lee Jehoon was in this movie but I didn’t know Yeon Woojin was in it. Two popular Kdrama actors in an LGBT movie.

I understand how much significance their small roles could’ve made for a conservative Korea at the time, and this made me view the actors differently. I genuinely hope they start opening up to lgbt shows with popular kdrama actors from now on.

Even in 2025 they keep censoring gay relationships (especially lesbian). Can’t believe they haven’t progressed much even after this banger dropped!

Though it was lowkey surreal lol I didn’t know what was happening during those singing montages but it was sweet. I’m glad the couple ended up together despite being caught. Very cute and quick watch.

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So many holes

I was looking forward to this movie after finding out that Kim Sae-ron is in it. She was definitely the best actor in the movie, with the most honest emotions and expressions, although her role is small. Actually it is hard to say who is the main character since there are so many but the story just throws them around at random. Well the main actor is the Manhole, hiding from the public what happens underground.

The idea for the movie is great. The setting is dark, gritty and gory, but the plot, or better said, progression of the story is the main flaw of the movie. There are too many plot holes. The director sacrificed consistency for cheap and clichéd tense scenes. And instead of the movie scaring me, I was annoyed because the characters behave illogically, and the whole story development is confusing. Often in horror movies we wonder why someone acts stupidly and here I was wondering throughout the whole movie why on earth they don't act a little smarter, and how is it possible that things happened the way they did. Also, a lot is being left unsaid here, so the viewer can get away from the movie whatever he wants. Hope others will have a better viewing experience then me.

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A Passionate and Heartbreaking Love

8.75
(rated on movie standards)

Story:
-deep and tragic
-fantastical groundhog day elements
-pretty realistic otherwise
-developed characters

-magic could have more explanation
-the switching of scenes happened to fast. This could have been an 9.00 if the scenes weren't cut so quickly

Acting:
-excellent. I didn't think I'd love Chen Fei Yu and Zhou Ye together as much as I did!
-side characters aren't memorable.

-styling needs to mention. Gorgeous. Both their clothes are beautiful and Zhou Ye's hair was great

Music:
-fit the vibe
-pretty good

Rewatch:
-I would. Enjoyable

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A Decent Sports Youth Movie

8.00
(rated on movie standards)

Story:
-family friendly, with one or two violent scenes (watched with my younger bro)
-Zhang Wei's character development was excellent
-really funny at times
-there were some scenes that were really good

-the rest of the guys didn't get too much character development
-the ending didn't have that "it" factor, as well as some unrealistic things happening. They didn't give some things enough time to breathe.
-the overall plot line didn't hit the sweet spot

Acting:
-pretty good!
-I enjoyed watching the main leads

Music:
-some good tracks in there
-not very memorable

Rewatch:
-no
-after one watch, you're satisfied

Overall:
Not the most memorable, but watching once is fine.

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When Love Grows With You?

Life: Love on the Line — Review

⭐ 8/10

What I Loved
Omg, the way their relationship grew from high school to college to adult life... it felt so real and pure. ?? Watching them stick together through all those life changes was just beautiful. And honestly, for a show that’s only 4 eps, it showed sooo much without feeling rushed at all. I was lowkey emotional the whole time. ?

What I Didn't Like
Tbh, Akira's storyline kinda annoyed me. Like, after being with Yuuki for 11 YEARS, suddenly realising he needs a “normal” life? Bro, seriously??? He ended up hurting both Yuuki and his wife, Shiraishi Honoka. Even tho Akira divorced and got back with Yuuki later, I think it would have been better if, when Yuuki asked for a promise, he had asked Akira never to see him again. It would have been a very good ending for Yuuki.

Final Thoughts
Even with that one messy part, this drama was sooo good. So emotional, so real, and just hit different. ? If you love slow-burn, soft but painful love stories, def give it a watch.

8/10 from me — would totally recommend!!

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An effective solid disaster film throwback

An affectionate and well-realised update of Junya Satō's The Bullet Train, Bullet Train Explosion's devotion to delivering relentless edge-of-your-seat thrills ensures it's a blast from the moment it leaves the station. After his masterful reworking of Ultraman 3 years ago, I've been patiently waiting for Shinji Higuchi's next film. While the visual effects, direction, cinematography and camerawork are all top-notch, the carnage feels relatively restrained compared to Higuchi's prior work. However, even then, the film's greatest strength lies in its construction of tension and its commitment to showing how people respond to chaos. Some rise while others fall. Even with Higuchi as the film's conductor, this is still very much a one-track film, where Satō's original cross-cuts the action on board its Shinkansen with Ken Takakura's criminal antics, and here we are solely dedicated to the action on board. Despite its familiarity, there's also a fair dose of originality, although the late-game villain reveal had me howling with unintentional laughter. It's a long journey, full of near misses and assorted beats of suspense; although it abandons the complicating human factors that gave the original its soul, the film works very effectively as both a remake and a legacy sequel alike, even if the first half is far stronger than its latter half. Backed by strong performances and a rousing score by Taisei Iwasaki, Bullet Train Explosion is an effectively solid action disaster throwback, full of collectivism and collaboration.

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Carry On Shaw

A relatively faithful adaptation of the Carry On humour, Carry On Doctors and Nurses sees the Shaw Brothers taking a stab at creating their own interpretation of the classic formula. It repeats many beats from the four hospital films of the classic British institution but mixes them up just enough not to seem like a direct riff on the same jokes, just with worse timing. While there are plenty of great moments of slapstick pratfalls and an equal dose of Hong Kong's brand of absurdist humour, the film fails to come together satisfactorily and contains too much dead air to tickle the funny bones. Anthony Chan's direction isn't terrible and does enough to keep the picture moving with a shot of surrealist horror. I admit to getting a good chuckle out of the exceptionally lengthy Ghostbusters parody, but other jokes tend to wear out their welcome very quickly, being milked to the point of powder. While Carry On Doctors and Nurses certainly isn't awful, it does feel rather tired, although the cast's bafoonery does elevate it above the realm of disposable.

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Carry On Hotel

It's hilarious to me that the unequivocally British Carry On series was popular enough in Hong Kong to inspire its own set of exploitation films. Although Carry On Hotel doesn't really fit the vignette of that series and is as lightweight and inconsequential as they come, it still provides plenty of screwy all-star silliness and as many tonal mixes as something crafted by Wong Jing. As most of the stories are unrelated to one another, the film progresses without pausing for much unnecessary reflection or even explanation of what is happening, maintaining a comfortable pace to keep the proceedings moving without losing the viewer, however, director Jeffrey Lau struggles with consistency and pacing. We're merely expected to follow these numerous unimportant storylines while finding some form of entertainment in them. It seems that the presence of big stars and nonsensical comedy is meant to make everything all right, and it somehow does, ideal for spending a mellow afternoon with HK Cinema pals Eric Tsang, Cherie Chung, Joey Wong, Richard Ng, Cecilia Yip and Jacky Cheung. Unlike bigger and more ponderous all-star comedies, Carry on Hotel never attempts anything other than strange comedy and brief, amusing asides, a fluffy affair that can be suitably diverting, especially if watching these likeable stars engage in silly pratfalls is your idea of a good time.

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Where plain storytelling is the drawcard

For the record, I don't give out 10 star ratings lightly. In fact, I think this is my first one on this site.

Liway isn't particularly intricate in its storytelling or production. It tells the story of a couple of freedom fighters who are imprisoned with their two kids under the Marcos regime. But its simplicity is Liway's greatest strength.

The plain storytelling works so well for two reasons. One, the characters are rich and tactile. The actors do an incredible job in demonstrating what make each character tick, their fears, and their raison d'être. It makes them feel incredibly human and incredibly real.

And thus reason two: the story is a true one. The punch of this really follows through in the epilogue and credits where the connections between the film and real life are made explicit. I already knew about the big reveal at the end before watching Liway, but it still hit me emotionally like a tonne of bricks.

All in all, despite the occasional cliché (though these are done well) and a little heavy-handedness with the music, I think Liway does have an important place. The emotional weight of the storytelling aside, releasing this film during Duterte's presidency – and having watched it now with Marcos Jnr in power – really highlights the necessity of stories like this in contributing to collective memory.

And, yes, you will need a tissue box for this one.

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The Movie That Had Me Questioning My Entire Moral Compass

Okay, so Green Bones?? I walked into the theatre expecting a solid crime thriller, but walked out re-evaluating my entire worldview. Like, no exaggeration, this movie wrecked me.

The premise is already wild—a person’s ashes turn green if they lived a life of goodness (which, excuse me, that’s a concept I’m obsessed with??). Then the film throws us into a tense prison drama with Xavier Gonzaga (Ruru Madrid), a corrections officer who takes his job wayyy too seriously, and Domingo Zamora (Dennis Trillo), a convict fighting for his freedom. From minute one, the intensity was unreal.

I loved how this movie made me second-guess everything. Like, do people actually change? Can redemption be real? Are our justice systems as fair as we think they are? The performances?? Chef’s kiss. Dennis Trillo had me on edge the entire time, and the suspense just kept building. Every scene had me gripping my popcorn, convinced something was about to go down.

By the end, I was just sitting there, staring at the credits, emotionally compromised. If you’re into movies that make you feel something—like really hit you with ethical dilemmas and gut-wrenching performances—you need to watch Green Bones. Just trust me on this one. 10/10 would spiral into deep thought again.

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"If your sword skill is poor, best to not carry it."

Pursuit of Vengeance was a 1977 kung fu flick whose cast was stronger than its story. Based on a Gu Long book, Chor Yuen must have struggled to contain the story in a 90-minute film. While the story may have been convoluted, the potent combination of Ti Lung, Tony Liu, and Lo Lieh made the film entertaining.

Fu Hong Xue and Ye Kai wander into town and are invited to Ma Kong Qun’s school for dinner along with four other fighters. Six coffins are delivered ahead of them, not a good sign of a friendly welcome. Amongst the attendees is the unknown surviving son of Master Bai. The family leader was ambushed by thirty masked warriors and brutally murdered twenty years prior. Fu and Ye develop a friendship as they fight together or watch the other one fight. Into the mix, a sword for hire and playboy, Lu Xiao Jia drops into their laps. Lu has been sent to kill them, but as he hasn’t been paid yet, he works to keep them alive until he sees the money.

The Gu Long story behind Pursuit of Vengeance was also made into the 1993 movie, A Warrior’s Tragedy. I’d hoped by watching this film that I would better understand AWT, but alas not. The original story must have been quite complex with numerous characters as both films struggled to narrow down the focus and make it understandable. Frankie Chan wrote the music for this film and then 17 years later directed and starred in the remake. Ti Lung played Fu in both adaptations. At least he was closer to the character’s age in this one and didn’t walk around with that ridiculous limp as he did in AWT.

Despite the fact that this film was absurdly written, I enjoyed watching Ti Lung and Lo Lieh. Ti, as he usually did, played the straight man, this time to Lo and Tony Liu who delivered their comedy without going OTT. There were so many fights that many bit actors and stuntmen died at least twice! Mama Hung who was normally cast as a random villager even got in on the action as did Oyang Sha Fei! Tang Chia designed the fights which meant that they more theatrical than realistic. Unlike the remake’s over the top wire work, PoV had a modicum of super leaping individuals. It more than made up for any realistic elements by overusing the Mission Impossible face masks.

Pursuit of Vengeance had trouble with what must have been an unwieldy book to translate onto the screen. The fights were typical of the time, including bizarre weaponry. What made the film entertaining for me was the camaraderie between Ti Lung, Tony Liu, and Lo Lieh. They were fun to watch banter and fight back to back. I can honestly say I’ve never seen so much of Lo. Only for fans of old kung fu flicks and as always, rated on a generous curve for the genre.

26 April 2025
Trigger warning: Lo’s bare bottom on two occasions.

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