Reviews

Great actors in a tokusatsu? Why not?

I have not read any of the manga nor seen either season of the anime, and so I cannot speak the faithfulness of the adaptation or the film's consistency with the rest of the franchise.

The film is an all-ages dive into the human body from the POV of blood cells where the red cells transport oxygen and CO2 and various other cells fight off injury, illness and the occasional inconvenient bowel movement. The bad guys are infections and stray mutations played as OTT as any villain in every afternoon television tokusatsu from Kamen Rider on. And so the question naturally arises: is this film worth seeking out if you're over the age of, say, 10?

For me the answer is an unequivocal yes largely because the casting and the performances elevate the material substantially. Look. They cast Nagano Mei AND Ashida Mana. Based on everything they've ever been in you know their characters will be crying. In this film Nagano is a red blood cell in Ashida's body. In the first two acts, Nagano's character is new on the job and never knows her way around; frequently straying into unsafe places where she is inevitably saved by a white blood cell played by a brooding and cool Satoh Takeru. The film to that point is a light action comedy.

However, the stakes are raised significantly in the final third of the film, and the performances both within and outside the bodies get darker and more real. I do think the film walks the line of how to address illness and death extremely well, and you will be perfectly safe watching it with kids. I must particularly shout out Fukase Satoshi as the final boss for bringing some depth to his performance that gives Nagano and Satoh something to work with that's a bit more real than your usual tokusatsu villain.

Abe Sadawo is along for the ride as Ashida's single, out-of-shape and overworked father and raising the question of just how many times he will play Ashida's father. He brings his usual comedic flare, and easily keeps up with Ashida and Nagano when the film turns darker.

The special effects, huge crowd sequences and fight scenes are all top notch as these things go. The environments inside the body are all creative and fun while still providing a solid metaphorical understanding of how cells in the body work to resist illness, fight infections and heal.

All in all, Cells At Work! is a quality live-action adaptation and an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

Read More

Well, that was both boring and confusing.

[Don't pay much attention to the ratings for this review, as always. Documentaries would need different categories. When will MDL finally allow me to post a review without ratings?]

It's a very slow paced documentary, which I don't mind as such -- but for the most part, I didn't really understand what was happening on screen. They introduced too many brewers and masters too fast, and jumped from one to the other -- some never to be seen again, some would be important later, but I didn't know who would. The narrative also jumped between times -- history and present, summer and winter. They showed one aspect, and then, without explaining it thoroughly, showed another.

I ended up having more questions than answers at the end:
* Why exactly do all the brewers have to stay at the brewery for the whole six months of winter? I get that it's a difficult process, that needs to be monitored closely at crucial times, but when the mash is fermenting, it should be sufficient to check once or twice a day, right? (The answer seems to be tradition.)
* Where do the workers sleep during that time, how are their living conditions?
* Are they paid during the summer?
* The documentary claimed several times that the brewing of Sake in Noto is closely connected to the local culture. We only got to see a few glimpses of one festival. What exactly is the connection, what do the locals who are not working as brewers think about it?
* The documentary claims that the four "Kings of Sake" developed the modern brewing process. How exactly does it differ from older processes?

Overall, it was a frustrating (and boring) experience. For a moment, I wondered if it was me, if it was because I have no knowledge about Sake at all (other than that it's a alcoholic rice drink) -- but no. I also didn't know anything about Sumo but thoroughly enjoyed the documentary "Sumodo".

One other thing: The volume level is very low, I had to turn up the volume on my end several times. I don't know enough Japanese to understand anything, but I still like to hear the people on screen.



Was it good? -- I don't think so. There were a few scenes that were really good, and I loved how they ended the documentary (that one sentence had impact), but the narrative was more confusing than informative.

Did I like it? -- I would like to see another, better documentary about the same topic.

Would I recommend it? -- Not really.
I will give a watch suggestion for the first time after writing more than 130 reviews: Watch from the beginning to 2:16 for the atmosphere, then 23:40-26:25 (for the origin stories of Sake), 27:00-31:30 (for the modern brewing process), and 1:15:00 to the end (for the brewing process of refined sake by a master). After that, you could go back and watch the rest for the brewers and the masters.

Read More

Cliche apocalypse movie

Not really extraordinary but not bad either. It’s definitely a movie you can enjoy with your family during movie night, or by yourself. I played this movie as background noise as I played my game lol, it had its moments where I would put my game down to focus on a scene but then it would get boring again, making me shift my focus.

I feel like the pacing of the story is extremely fast and everything happens at once, as if the movie couldn’t wait to be finished.

Nothing too good. It reminded me a bit of that kdrama called the black knight, the apocalyptic setting was very similar, but i’m not sure why Korea pictures the end of the world as a desert everytime 😂 I’d love to see an apocalypse movie where everything is overgrown by grass and plants for once. I get that it’s apocalyptic so they have to give a bland setting but that doesn’t mean viewers should get bored of it visually.

I won’t nitpick further, entertaining enough to watch once.

Read More

An Artificial World of Lost Connections

"Wonderland" starts with a premise that is as fascinating as it is unsettling: a service that allows people to communicate with AI recreations of deceased or comatose loved ones. With a star-studded cast led by Park Bo-gum and Bae Suzy, and supported by names like Gong Yoo and Tang Wei, the film promised to explore grief, technology, and the boundaries of reality.

Visually appealing and featuring good chemistry between its leads, the movie stands out for its central concept. However, its narrative leaves loose ends and doesn’t fully tap into the emotional and psychological depth of the theme. Some characters lack development, and the overall execution may leave viewers feeling somewhat disconnected.

In summary, Wonderland is an interesting and visually polished film, ideal for those intrigued by reflections on artificial intelligence and grief, though it may not fully satisfy viewers looking for a deeper or more emotionally resonant experience.

Read More

It is not exactly a bad movie, although it also would not be classified as a masterpiece.

The actors were all just as adorable as they could possibly be, and they did a fantastic job of making me care about their characters, but the writers apparently brainstormed this one after a Soju binge. When the entire story hinges on miscommunication and emotional manipulation, then the writing is sloppy and lazy at best, and an insult to the intelligence of the audience at worst. I'm easy to entertain and will happily suspend my disbelief for a hand of god here and there in an otherwise well-crafted tale, but the eye-rolling factor was already high, and then the ending of this movie had me cursing BS.

Read More

Go is Life, Life is Go

I know the basic rules of game Go, but it was always too intimidating to me to really start playing. Life is similar, there are basic rules of surviving but to win in life, you need to navigate through complex challenges. I believe this is why this movie was so captivating for me. The producers really did a great job depicting how the main characters live with the game. As you play and learn the game, you also learn to live. The characters had to find answers when there are none, fight against themselves and learn to respect the game. I was deeply moved by the inspirational story of this movie.

What amazes me also is that this is all true story and as far as I understands it is as true as possibile. Two Go players, a famous Cho Hun-hyun and his student Lee Chang-ho become rivals and the simple but strong drama between them is more gripping than fictional story could ever be. There is a real honesty about this movie that make it a representative for sports drama. The actors also seem to represent authentically the characters and emotions of the real people.

My conclusion: If you watch this movie you will learn a lot about Go, but even more about life.

Read More

The Red Thread of Fate

This was kind of an interesting approach to two people destined to be together. In the beginning, both Si On & Hong Seok really didn't deem like the likely pair to become a couple. Totally didn't worlds for each of them, but as Si On states at the end, "People who are really meant to be together are connected by a red thread between their little fingers"
The story itself seemed original, one character trying to live a very innocent life and establish a career, one living a bit of a darker side of life. Yet, both people holding pain inside from their youth.
The story seemed to work, although it seemed a bit rushed to get to the finish line. Normally these kind of stories take too long, but I think this could have been extended a bit to make a longer journey to get to the end.
Both Young Woo & Tae Min definitely matched up well together, making for a realistic relationship.
Overall, very enjoyable.

Read More

Hilarious movie with YinWar; its not supposed to be serious

Okay, lets get a lot of peoples question out of the way first. Is this a BL considering it has Yin and War in it?? The answer is no, its not a BL at all. It does star both actors together but there is no romance between them.

Now that that's out of the way we can talk about this underrated comedy. This movie is one of the funniest I have seen in a while, especially when you go into it knowing what type of comedy it is. Everyones comedic timing was on point, and to be honest I think some of the scenes were adlibbed because if you look closely at some of the actors in the background of some scenes, you can catch them holding back a laugh. Honestly I love that!

This movie was not supposed to be taken seriously! Its a slapstick comedy and if you like movies like the comedy "Scary Movie" then this is along that line. The CGI isn't great in some places but I personally was able to overlook that because the storyline felt pretty unique.

The story follows a group of boys (led by War) who are looking to catch a ghost on camera to skyrocket their youtube careers. however, while looking for their big money making shot, Achi (War) accidently brings forth a spirit that needs to find her murderer 1000 years ago. Forcing the boys to help by putting a 3 day curse on Achi life, they traveling around Thailand to find the answers and save his life.

I personally thought everyone's acting was great considering what they were supposed to be acting like and we do get some emotional moments from War, which he always does so well.

***TRIGGER WARNING: for my fellow emetophobes out there!!! There is a scene where Yin will vomit and it is visible clearly!! Its coming when Yin is talking to his mom after he starts to loose his mind (you'll know what that means). They will also show it again around the 1 hour 7 minute mark.***

Overall, I think this movie was exactly what it was supposed to be. A ridiculous comedy. If you love Yin and War for their funny personalities then you will love this too.

Read More

The clichéd art of subtlety

I want to say something about how they subverted the clichés of the romance genre by creating clever twists or by doing the unexpected, but let's get honest, this was as clichéd as clichés can get and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Let's clear one thing up, the lead is not an actor in the lakorn, he's actually the director who inadvertently has to direct something in the format he most detests after what happens at the beginning of the movie. And while having someone do something they both love and hate is not quite the revelation, the execution was actually genius. The leads usually try to fight it and do things their own way, but here, he has no choice but to do it like someone else wants.

Whether it's by force, or because the another lead, his girlfriend, absolutely loves lakorns or even because he's actually starting to fall in love with the job, the neverending clichés start presenting with some sort of charm, while usually this kind of barrage would feel outright like the writer hated writing the script. I know the last sentence is quite confusing but I'm not going to clarify anything on purpose because that aspect I'm keeping secretive was one of the best of the movie.

As you keep watching, you fall in love with the clichés, all of them, and whether you saw the twists coming or not, you've just thoroughly enjoyed an entire movie about something you usually scoff at after seeing too much on the screen.

It just works. You can tell everyone who worked on this had fun with it and to that effect, so did I. I was looking up movies on Netflix and randomly came across this one and just reading the synopsis, got myself prepared for either a lot of scoffing or a pleasant surprise. I'm glad it was the latter.

Read More

I was hooked!

Drowning Love hit different IMO. At first, I was loving the vibe with the soft, detached mood, but then things went bad fast — and I wasn’t ready for that.


The return of the attemped rapist character? Mate, I had to pause the movie. It made me SO mad. But honestly, that anger just added to how intense the movie is. It drags you through everything, even making you feel all the rage and heartbreak. Also the casting was really good! The characters are both fine and I love how they made the attempted rapist character more ugly than them 2 😋

The whole time, you’re drawn to Kou — he’s this intense, almost like yk mysterious presence that you can’t stop watching. The fire dancing scene, where it’s unclear if he’s even really there. It’s like you’re feeling the emotional chaos more than actually seeing what’s happening.

and the thing with Kou, man… by the end of it, you’re left wondering if he actually died. The movie doesn’t outright say it, but the way everything shifts after that makes it feel like he’s gone. Natsume’s whole tone in the end, how she’s reflecting, almost like she’s mourning someone who isn’t coming back — it hits hard.

The OST was another highlight. The music fits perfectly with the vibes — it really complements the emotional intensity of the film. It adds to the dream-like atmosphere while also pulling you back into the harshness of reality when it needs to. I even downloaded Chasing Kou!!!

I’m not someone who usually sits through an entire movie without getting distracted, but this one? It had me hooked the whole time. The story is really clear and easy to follow, even with all the emotional stuff. And even though I was angry, confused, and sad, it still gets 10 stars. That’s how you know it’s a good film...when it makes you feel everything, good and bad.

Read More

Spoiler ahead!!

This movie is too good, ive rewatched it two times thats how good it is. Its a mix of genre's despite that its still good, ive never seen this kind of plot before. The acting is so good actor Austin Lin portrayed it so well and also Greg Hsu. The ending is too bad though i wish we couldve gotten a reincarnation as the characters said throughout the movie about getting a reincarnation. They should create a second movie about maomao reincarnating and the officer finding him. The ending is what dissapoints me 😔. This movie is good and a must watch if you like a mix of genre.

Read More

Taiwanese BLs are a rare sight

Beautifully crafted film, from its breathtaking cinematography to its emotionally rich plot and powerful performances. Every element was done with care, and I was deeply moved throughout. It captures the struggles of queer youth during a time when acceptance wasn’t common, making the story even more poignant and heartbreaking. What makes it even more special is how rare Taiwanese BL films are these days. It’s raw, real, and deeply emotional. Many have praised it for its authenticity and the chemistry between the leads, and I wholeheartedly agree. It quickly became one of my all-time favorites. I’d watch it again in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone looking for a queer film that’s both beautiful and meaningful. 🫂🫂

Read More

"Don't come home"

Farewell China was a 1990 film directed by Clara Law and filmed primarily in New York. The film showed the difficulty many illegal immigrants without a safety net of family or community suffer, especially when emigrating to one of the most expensive cities in the world.

After years of trying, Li Hong receives her visa and travels to New York City ostensibly in order to study. Her husband, Nan Sheng stays in China with their baby son, Sansan. At first, Nan Sheng receives seven letters from Hong a month. The letters stop coming after she begs him to come home and he tells her tough it out and stay. Eventually Nan Sheng takes the dangerous illegal route to the states to find Hong. It doesn’t take long for him to discover the squalor and danger she lived in and the despair that riddled her life. With the help of Jane, a teenage Chinese American prostitute, Hong begins the arduous search for his wife.

The story of cultural identity and the dangers illegal immigrants faced, especially in 1990s New York City and the boroughs, was compelling. Arriving in a foreign land, with limited English skills, no money, and no connections was a recipe for disaster. However, Law lost me in the implementation of the elements. The over-the-top 15-year-old prostitute with a heart of gold who helped Nan Sheng did not hit as authentic. It was also disturbing when he worked as her pimp, “Chinese little girl. 15-years-old. Beautiful, clean, and sexy.” Nan Sheng stumbling across live sex shows and utter filth and overwhelming crime felt like a bad stereotype of the city. Although admittedly, 1990 was a peak year for crime. And people illegally in the country don’t go to the police for fear of deportation. The ending also let me down as it felt contrived and out of left field.

Aside from reservations I had about the storytelling, the acting was quite good. Tony Leung Ka Fai conveyed Nan Sheng’s longing, perseverance, and breaking points. The story of Maggie Cheung’s Li Hong was told primarily through flashbacks. Her character went from hopeful for a better life to the threshold of utter despair taking its toll on her sanity. Nan Sheng would come to understand how traumatic the words, “Don’t come home,” could be.

As much as I enjoyed Autumn Moon by Clara Law, I was unable to connect to Farewell China the same way. The very real horrors and sense of isolation and loss immigrants can feel was diminished by the melodramatic approach.

9 May 2025
Trigger warnings: Insects. Sexual content and full nudity, especially at a live sex show. Sex with an underage girl.

Read More