Reviews

Hermosa.

It’s only 30 minutes, but Journey to the Shore hits hard. It tells a full emotional, and painfully story. I didn’t expect to feel so much in such a short time.

Sambeon’s development is the heart of it. Watching him struggle between guilt, love, and helplessness was heartbreaking. And Minha wanting to die, needing to escape...it’s brutal, but honest. You slowly realize he did take his life, and it just crushes you. No melodrama, just a quiet, heavy truth.

But then there’s that scene at the beach. That one moment of freedom, of peace. Just the two of them, far from the cruelty, being who they are without fear. It’s beautiful. It’s fleeting. And it hurts even more because you know it couldn’t last. But still for a second, they were able to be happy 🥲

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✒ ⚙ (Not) Commie Taxi Uprising ⚙ °8.4° °excellent°

It was wonderful to watch something that I was thrilled to have watched. It had been too long. I'd just worked through a string of shows and movies that let me down more than picked me up. They seem to come in clusters.

This movie is based on true events. At the film's opening is inscribed: “October 1979. With the shooting of President Park Chun- hee, South Korea's 18 year long era of dictatorship ends. But in contrast to the people's hope for democracy. General Chun Doo-hwan heads a military coup and seizes power. 1980: Outraged citizens protest in the streets and their yearning for democracy intensifies.”

News traveled slower in those days. This is before cable news. TV news was available at 6&11 pm. And there was the radio, newspaper & print media. That's it, and it wasn't too difficult for those in power to choke out truth. Peter, the western journalist who was hanging out in Japan (who's official paperwork pegs him as a missionary), only heard about tensions in Korea because he happened to have drinks with someone who had just been there - someone who couldn't reach his friends there. So on a plane Peter goes.

Song Kang Ho is the ML and titular character, Kim Man “Seob”. I had only seen him in the movie Parasite-9, so it was nice to see him playing someone energetic. I've since seen him playing Uncle Samsik-8.4, who is downright manic, so Mr. Song has quite the range. This film showcases his ability. He has to play many different emotions and his work is brilliant. Seob's a widower. He has a daughter. He's late on his rent - 4 months. His daughter and the landlady's chubby son fight. They both have scrapes on their foreheads. Each parent blamed the /other/ kid. She demands the back-rent NOW! Or move out. The only fare we see Seob blow off is for a couple about to give birth. The man forgot his wallet. “I'll pay you double tomorrow.” Seob holds out no hopes of that: “Do you know how many times I've heard that? I could buy a house on that fare.” Basically, money is tight.

Peter's contact in K-country shows him a paper with an empty page - censorship is in high gear. The city of Gwang-ju is the nerve center of the current tensions. All reporters are being closely watched - but - hey! He's a /missionary/❕😇. Gwang-ju needs a man on a mission. Peter will take a 🚖 there, and foreigners overpay. Driver Kim Man “Seob” overhears Peter's chosen driver bragging about that BIG fare and manages to swoop in and swipe the ride (and the 💰) like it was just a beer run. It turns out to be a dangerous run.

Seob has no idea what's going on. The situation is dangerously intense. Yet he, in a state of complete disconnect, is beaming during the whole drive down. The music is inappropriately upbeat and rousing to reflect his mood.

Even the back roads are guarded, but they manage to lie their way in. The streets of Gwang-ju are eerily quiet with tumble-trash rolling around. When they meet protesters, Peter whips out his camera and starts interviewing them as their cheers break the stillness. This is how Seob learns that Peter is /not/ a missionary. Nor is he a businessman. This is WHEN he learns - after he's already in the middle of it. Taxi drivers are being arrested for merely taking the wounded to the hospital!

At first, Seob doesn't believe the soldiers would do anything wrong. After all, HE used to be a soldier. There's no way they're acting like thugs and smashing people's heads in! Then he takes a woman to the hospital. He sees that other taxi drivers won't take the reporters anywhere because they're not reporting the truth. He marvels that they can turn down fairs! He still needs to acclimate to the situation on the ground: He's watching it unfold, yet it is still hard to accept. We all shut out the ugliness because it will take effort to deal with it. Once a decent person can no longer look away, action is required.

They go on top of the building for an aerial view. Soldiers are shooting at and storming the crowd. A local reporter warns Peter that if the government knows he's there, they will hunt him down, along with all the people helping him. Even at this point, Seob is blissfully ignorant of nearly everything going on. When Seob sees soldiers kicking and beating an old lady with sticks, he realizes how wrong this is. Action is required. To the shock everybody else in the group, Seob decides to go down and get involved.

That night, they turn on the newscast and it's all lies. Brave reporters, in turn, try to print the truth, but their manager stops them saying they'll all just get thrown in jail. At night, the gunfire starts. Fires rage in the distance.

TD is a 2017, 137-minute release that is rated 68 on AWiki. Director, Jang Hoon, did a brilliant job, and he doesn't have a lot on his director resume yet. Taxis were golf-green in the 80's, and a lurid green coats the film's opening. Even though I know nothing of 1980 Korea, I could feel the retro vibe. A quick web search reveals that green is for growth, beginnings, youth, and new energy. When they arrive in Gwang-ju, green banners have been hung by the protesters.

The director evokes raw emotion with skill. The hospital scene is bloody, and it hurts. With the flurry of car chases, stunts, shooting battles, and close ups of gunshots with blood splattering, this is not a small budget production. As they head back to Seoul with the goods, the military is on to them. (It doesn't make sense that the secret police dude would have been at that particular checkpoint. He had other things to do in the city). They get through a checkpoint, but at some point the taxis have to band together and run an interference operation. It's awesome, but it's fiction.

Per WIKI, “The assassination of President Park Chung Hee on 26 October 1979 triggered a number of democracy movements {which led to later protests} that had previously been suppressed under Park's tenure. The abrupt end of Park's 18-year authoritarian rule left a power vacuum that created political and social instability.

General Chun Doo-hwan heavily suppressed these protests. On 18 February 1980, the army issued orders to a number of units to undergo severe riot control training, called "Loyalty Training" This training was harsh and unconscionable, and was criticized as a factor behind the paratroopers' indiscriminate use of violence against the uprising.

There is no universally accepted death toll for the Gwangju Massacre. Records of death for the city in May 1980 were an estimated 2,300 above the historical averages and the death toll has been estimated to be anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people. Estimates for the number of civilians wounded also vary heavily, including figures anywhere from 1,800 to 3,500 people…

The movement preceded other democratic movements during the late 1980s that pressured the regime into democratic reforms and paved the way for the election of President Kim Dae-jung in 1997, the first opposition candidate to win the office… The 1980s marked a surge in Anti-American sentiment in Korea, widely traced to the United States' support for Chun's government and its involvement in the suppression of the Gwangju Uprising. According to Bruce Cumings…

The real Kim Sa-bok had a long term working relationship as a driver for Jurgen Hinzpeter, since at least 1975, and had died of liver cancer on December 19, 1984 at the age of 54. According to his son, Kim Sa-bok was traumatized by the terrible events at Gwangju and became a heavy drinker afterwards.”



QUOTES📢

We would rather die standing than live on our knees.

There aren't enough coffins in Gwang-ju.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.4 📝7.8 🎭8.5 🌞4 🎨8.5 ⚡7 🎵/🔊7 😅3 😭7 😱5.7 😯5 😖6.8 🤔7 💤0 🔚8

Age 14+ for TV-14 language, violence and blood. This movie is historically significant, so additional leeway is to be expected.

Re-📺?



In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Flex X Cop-8.5,
The Bros-7.4,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Vagabond-8,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Iris-8,
D.P.-8.4,
Flower of Evil-8.9,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9, Mr. Sunshine 9
The Wailing-8.8,
Oldboy-9,


〰 Prime Catalog 〰

A Taxi Driver-8.4,
A Witch's Love-7.9,
Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds-7.2,
Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days-6.7,
Boys Over Flowers-8.3,
Death's Game-7.8,
Heartbeat-4.8,
The K2-8
The Man from Nowhere-8.9,
Marry My Husband-7.5,
May I Help You-6.3,
Mother-8.8,
My Man Is Cupid-5.9,
My Mister-9.5,
Private Lives-8.1,
Saimdang-8.5,
She Would Never Know-7.3
So I Married the anti fan-6.8,
The Wailing-8.8,
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion-7.6,

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A tedious drawn out search for "the one"

First: the promo picture (on this site) is not in the movie. I watched this solely due to the good reviews & found it Disappointing. It did feel a bit dated, but I've watched series from mid the 2000's & enjoyed them. The beginning is very confusing & with no dialogue or voice over you just don't know what's going on. Then you flip flop between the lead's stories, which are not interesting . Finally, we are led into a tedious drawn out search for "the one". The last 5 minutes were the most interesting, but the resolution falls flat because we are never given a satisfying conversation between the 2 people that the whole plot revolved around. The lead female (Im Soo-jung) was made unattractive & written unlikeable. Her issues with not seeing things through to the end aren't given a reason (childhood trauma due to some issue with her mother, who is absent & never mentioned, would have worked !). And for having no reason, she comes across as selfish, paranoid, but mostly uncaring. She has no chemistry with the male lead & there is no reason the two come into attraction. The female lead's forwardness to the men she turns her attention to is just badly done. I just didn't find much about this to like, though I wanted to see Gong Yoo in a lead romantic role, but this was not a good vehicle for him.

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Lackluster & forgettable. The leads have no chemistry

lackluster & forgettable. the leads didn't have any chemistry that made them a compatible romantic couple. The plot device that first separates the young lovers is not something a westerner would understand & it came across as cruel. Later when they are reunited- they have a near death experience, the guy ,( in a fit of passion) is forceful in his kiss & it's NOT romantic because it's so aggressive (& she seems to not be receptive). Then he's so heated he pushes to have her stay overnight . Does anyone who lives in a city leave their curtains open at night, in their bedroom ? Really the whole bedroom scene just wasn't romantic . Over all there wasn't enough believable moments of liking the characters or the characters liking each other to make this what you want it to be.

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"My cabbages!"

I suspect Yamamoto Masashi’s 1987 film “Robinson’s Garden” is a polarizing film. Two hours of a counter culture woman creating a home out of an abandoned industrial site may either strike a viewer as profound or a colossal waste of time. I didn’t consider it a waste of time but also failed to see its profundity.

Kumi and her friend Maki make a meager living as small time drug dealers and live in a communal type dwelling with an international crowd of underachievers. One night while stumbling home drunk, Kumi climbs over a wall and enters a thick forest, unusual for Tokyo. There in the midst is an empty factory and surrounding buildings. The next day Kumi sells or gives away nearly everything she owns and moves in. She paints murals on the walls and plants small trees. After that she begins the arduous task of digging up overgrown weeds in order to plant a cabbage patch. She furnishes and decorates her home with castoffs she finds in alleyways. All does not go well when she invites her friends over and it ends in a brawl.

Robinson’s Garden was more about the feelings that it evoked than any plot. Conversations were sparse and usually inane and repetitious like a record skipping in place. Kumi created her own reality or at least tried to, the opposite life of the rigid salaryman or cooped up housewife. In a feverish moment she pedaled her bike through a group of identically dressed salarymen to drive home the point. The isolated, verdant island hidden somewhere in Tokyo had a mythical feel about it, especially when coupled with a mysterious tree at the center of strange events.

The industrial site transformed into a rustic home led people to have hallucinations. An odd mandala painted by a stranger could have been a curse or a blessing. Kumi’s physical and mental health deteriorated as time went on, was she a victim of nature or lead paint or having only cabbages to eat? Kumi wasn’t a great gardener and alternated between working feverishly and sleeping for long periods of time.

Robinson’s Garden had little plot and could have used some judicious editing from my perspective. For a time, Kumi’s off grid existence bordered on paradise as she spent her days living in the moment. Capitalism and consumerism were far away over the wall. Either Nature or her own ebbing sanity began clawing back the “improvements” she’d made, showing the impermanence of humanity in the face of whatever green goddess ruled in her hidden world. This film was interesting but didn’t convey very clearly the existential questions it seemed to dance around.

25 June 2025

Trigger warnings: Partial nudity and sexual encounters

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The best one yet

This is by far, the best entry into the franchise and it's surprising that it took so long for them to use the plotlines they did in this movie!

Pee Nak 4 follows First, Balloon, Min Jun and Nott from the previous movies as they both vacation and attempt to repair an old chapel that belongs to Min Jun's family. The repairs have stopped for some reason and when the four of them find themselves haunted by yet another Pee Nak, they need to find the spirit's identity and figure out what their connection to the chapel is.

This was the first movie that properly utilized the mystery aspect of horror movies, in the previous three, the huge reveals weren't as surprising as they were meant to be, and though this one didn't have that shocker of a reveal either, they did manage to create a ton of mystery while also using their tried and true Naga mythology story aspect. And the legend they used in this one was amazing as well, definitely my favorite of the four.

The horror was actually good! There were jump scares? I was surprised watching it and surprised myself again after I realized I watched a jump scare in a Pee Nak movie.

And the comedy was back. I genuinely enjoyed the comedy in this one, absurd, dark, and self - aware comedy? Yes please!

The thing they did best though - creating an emotional connection, I'm surprised it hasn't been done before. It's a tried and true way to get the audience invested and this one was executed beautifully. I genuinely teared up a bit, without giving away too many spoilers, the backstory in this was absolutely amazing and you could truly feel the emotions.

I would definitely recommend watching this one - as well as watching the others for continuity purposes, but if you had to pick one? This is my first pick. The plot was set up in movie three, but even without watching it, you won't be that lost. This was so very good and they did set up another sequel, which, considering the fact that I've pretty much binged the franchise, I hope is just as good.

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To say "awesome" is, of course, to say nothing. The film is a bomb, from the beginning to the end there is complete tension. As if my body was shackled. The acting is top notch. And indeed, appearances can be deceiving. It's a pity, of course, that we were not told the story of the maniac, why he chose this path in life and what prompted him to do such things, which blew his head off. After all, in any case, something happened in his childhood that so crippled his psyche. But here we were shown exactly this moment and a separate story that made me nervous. Even now, I am writing this review and I can't catch my breath. A difficult film to watch, not to everyone's taste, but it is worth watching. The only thing is that after such films it becomes even more scary to live. But unfortunately we are not able to influence this, because psychos have always been and will be, if a person is mentally ill, few people and things can help him, no matter how hard you try. So it all depends on luck, who is lucky and who is not. But think about it, if it weren't for maniacs and murderers, there would be even more of us on the planet and the problem with overpopulation would be even more serious, no matter how much we would like for such people not to exist... In general, I am becoming more and more disappointed in the performance of civil servants' service. They simply work disgustingly. I wonder if it is the same in life, or are they at least not so stupid? It is terrible that they did not even try to understand (or did not try to understand) a deaf person and listen to her. I heard that in Korea the problem with such psychos and maniacs is very common and it is terrible... People go cuckoo not because of a good life. Even these alarm poles do not help the poor girls... Vi Ha Jung, of course, is smart. It is amazing how a person can transform into different roles. I'm watching him after Squid Game, that is, this is only the 2nd drama with his participation and I already admire his acting skills.

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A good sequel

This was.. this was good but I think I expected it to be a bit better.

The third movie in the franchise follows the characters from the second movie, First, Balloon, Min Jun, Novice Monk Noht, Aod and Kiddie, as they travel to the Mekong region along with new character Bam Bam to discover the reason for Aod's sudden illness and the history of a cursed anklet.

As far a world building goes, this movie did perfect. They had already established this storyline in the prequel and bit by bit, we see the continuation of that final scene from the second movie play out here. This movie was also very connected to the Naga mythology, more so than the first two I'd say, and they explained it much better as well.

The horror.. was actually not bad. Still not scary, but as far as the franchise goes, might be the best until now.

So why am I a bit disappointed? The comedy. I expected a bit more and better comedy after the first two movies, and with this good story, I think they could have definitely better on the humor front. It was still funny, but I didn't find myself laughing as much as I did during the other two. I still loved the chaotic and absurd comedy style though.

This was a good sequel, I do think watching the other parts would help, especially since they make a ton of references to them, the storylines and the characters, and it is quite literally a continuation of the second movie, so I would definitely recommend watching them all.

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1st half: Romance
2nd half: Drama
Ending: Happy
Recommendation: Watch it

This Korean remake of the Taiwan movie "Hear Me" has a more sweet, romantic and cute vibe than the original which was more romcom. Main differences are the sibling roles are swapped, and this adaptation focuses and shows more on how deaf people live life and how they are treated. This adaptation also gives more screentime and story to the swimming sister, also Kim Minju is such a visual haha. We also see a much bigger sister bond and relationship. The Taiwan version is also more OST heavy while this adaptation relies on BGM.

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chaotic mess

I've anticipated this movie for a few months now and idk what I expected but not this-

on one site its interesting because there aren't that many movies about streaming (as in thriller genre ofc) and I liked that most of it was actually "streamed" by the ml

but there are multiple situations that I genuinely don't understand, why was it added for example there was a scene where he was parking down and a guy asked him to not park there then after a small argument he started undressing in public til underwear - aware that he's being filmed too and tried jumping on the car. like wrf 😭
i don't mind comedy mixed with thriller if it fits but shouldn't it make sense??

it just got very weird in multiple scenes but I don't want to spoiler anything so I'll leave it at that!

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"Among all the people you know, how many do you really understand?"

The summary of the movie reminded me of my favourite childhood movie "Matilda". Though both are centered around an abused young girl developing a friendship with a teacher, House of Hummingbird has a more in-depth approach, exploring relationships and sexuality, further outlining the historical context and gender roles in the '90s, and portraying the mentor being as a flawed individual.

This movie's strength lies in its ability to deliver an impactful message and elicit a powerful emotional response, while being filmed and presented in a plainly. Being part of a working-class family, there is no flashiness in Eun-hee's life and the movie is delivered in a similar way, often making the viewer feel as if physically there with the characters. While watching the movie, it is very easy to empathize with Eun-hee. Through the abundant number of hardships, I found myself holding on to the little happy moments in the film, in a similar way she did when they appeared in her life.

I would recommend this movie to any fans of "coming-of-age" films, as it hits all the key points of the genre and delivers social commentary in a way that is easy for the viewer to digest; through the eyes of a young girl.

Overall rating: 4/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Enjoyability: 3.5/5

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