Reviews

How can nothing be so good at being everything?

Everything about this movie screamed "this is not for you", but I decided to start watching anyways. If you too are wondering whether you should watch, here's a couple points to consider.

Having read all the reviews about this being a calm slice of life countryside movie, I thought my hyperactive brain could never focus on this. And I won't lie, the first 30 minutes felt like an hour. But at the same time, I didn't want this movie to end.
I don't like movies for a dozen reasons so it's rare that I watch any, and I never would have thought I'd like a movie where absolutely nothing happens. Turns out, when life is being crazy, nothing happening can be a blessing. I just wanted to immerse myself in the images and never stop looking at how beautiful they were, be it large wide or close-up shots.
Nonetheless, it is not the indeed very beautiful scenery that's this movie's biggest strength.

I also have ARFID, which is roughly the complicated word for "picky eater" and "dislikes food". So me admitting that after watching this I want to try almost every dish they showed is the biggest compliment I could ever make about someone else's cooking.

Regarding the characters, as much as I disapproved of the FL's decisions at times, I was still able to like her as a character. Maybe, sometimes we judge someone's decisions on the grounds that we wish we could do the same but feel we can't. The FL's acting fit her character really well and conveyed the character's love for cooking and nature convincingly enough to make you want to join her. All side characters and their interactions felt very realistic and there wasn't a single character I disliked - not even the ones I thought I'd hate after the first couple minutes.

The biggest selling point of this movie though is that it doesn't romanticize the countryside, nor does it make it look terrible. It's able to portray that to some people, the pros simply outweigh the cons without failing to demonstrate the cons have to be addressed nonetheless. While we actually see characters addressing their issues instead of just mentioning them, the movie never even once loses its calm, relaxing, inviting and healthy atmosphere. And while it feels like nothing happened at all, looking back at the end you will find that, just like the seasons, things indeed have changed.

I'd recommend watching this if you:
- Like slice of life and calmness
- Ever thought about moving to the countryside or enjoy being in nature.
- Like food OR don't like food and want to change that
- Want to take your time. If you quickly want to watch something, you won't be able to enjoy watching. Sit back and wait for this movie to have its effects on you.

PS: No need to get the snacks out. After being twenty minutes in, I put aside my chocolate because I suddenly craved a salad.

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Shin Hye Sun is the Reason to Watch

Overall, a good movie to watch and enjoy, especially if you like the bully getting it in the end. Shin Hye Sun was great here and I loved that she was taking hits and wasn't just beating the bully up.

It's a hard watch though but a lot of the bully movies and TV shows are. I mean the level of vitriol that bullies seem to have against people they consider less than is just wild. The fact that schools and administrators and the police often don't do anything either not to mention Korea's lack of discipline when it comes to minors who do horrible shit. It's a lot to unpack. Just a terrible situation that Korean society seems to be ok with.

5/4/25

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Ninja in the Deadly Trap reunited 3 of the Venoms and brought Ti Lung and Kurata Yasuaki along for the ride. The story was set during the time when General Chi Chik Kuang attempted to rout the Japanese and other sundry pirates and bandits who were causing the country problems. The pirates sent their secrety secret fighters to kill the general and defeat his forces. There’s nothing like authentic ninja action with ninjas wearing gold lamé outfits. Fortunately, the great general discovered three great warriors armed with the abilities to defeat the tackily dressed enemy.

General Chi sends his son to find the Master of the Three Arts. The master has a book detailing the ninja’s skills. Years ago, he taught three different men three different skills. They’ve never met, but have a way of knowing who the other is. Eventually, Han Yu returns with the fighters and they immediately start ferreting out the ninja spies.

I had higher hopes for this film given the cast. Poor Ti Lung spent most of his time ostentatiously dressed and looking constipated. Kurata Yasuaki didn’t fight until the last five minutes of the film, which was the greatest crime. Phillip Kwok aka Lizard Venom, Lu Feng aka Centipede Venom, and Chiang Sheng aka Venom Intern, put on a good show as all three were quite athletic and acrobatic. The trio took part in directing the film and choreographing the fights. Though a few of the fights strayed into kung fu posing, most were quick and entertaining for the time.

This film was not a Shaw Brothers production where the Venoms had spent most of their time. The Venoms went on the road to Taiwan and it showed. Several of the fights were shot at night which meant that it was difficult to discern the action. Others were carried out in the forests per usual, though at least this time it helped for the ninjas to have trees to jump out of.

The film’s quality was badly degraded. At one point it looked like Mystery Science Theater with dark chunks missing at the bottom of the screen resembling the bots watching a movie. The film choices I found were either subbed with faded white subs on a faded badly cropped background or a dubbed version with Chinese subtitles with more of a letterbox screen. The sound and film quality were poor for both. Basically, pick your poison.

When Ninja in the Deadly Trap focused on the Venoms it was more interesting. I’m still salty that Kurata had such a small part as he could bring the menace to accompany his real word martial arts skills. For fans of the genre, it could be a frustrating watch but worthwhile if you are a fan of any of the players. As always, graded on a curve.

3 May 2025

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"Don't ask for more"

Cute Girl aka Lovable You was Hou Hsiao Hsien’s directorial debut. Fans of his may be able to spot his tells, but this seemed worlds away from “A Time to Live, A Time to Die” or “Daughter of the Nile”. This was a plain vanilla romcom if you removed all the vanilla.

Pan Wen Qi’s wealthy father is arranging a marriage for her to the son of another wealthy family. Wen decides to take a break and spend time with her aunt in the countryside. As luck would have it, Gu Da Gang is surveying the town for a highway that is going to be built. “Hilarious” interactions between the villagers and Da Gang draw the two together. But sadly, this love could never be, because Wen’s father would never approve of a poor engineer. Wen returns home without saying good-bye to the man she has happily spent the past few days with. That doesn’t stop Da Gang from stalking her, I mean searching for her to declare himself.

Romcoms often rely on cheesy situations and misunderstandings, how the tropes are implemented is what matters. Cute Girl was built on cute people who did supposedly cute things. The characters had no depth and Wen’s most emotional outburst was when Da Gang and her blind date became friends. The cringe factor was high in this film, which wouldn’t have been so bad if the characters caused me to care whether they got to together or not. The theme song was played at least six times and for the most part this was a music video with a little story to it. It was truly one of the blandest films I’ve ever watched. At ninety minutes, it felt much longer.

3 May 2025
Trigger warning: A cobra was shown being butchered

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A good action movie

If you want to watch a good, fun action movie then you'll like this. The action is really good. The fight scenes are gritty and bloody. The choreography and everything is really well done. Andy On is a badass and can do great action scenes. Jiro Wang is good too. I was a bit surprised at how well he did his action scenes. Andy and Jiro had good on-screen chemistry. Eric Tsang was good as the charismatic and cunning villain. I was a bit confused at first if this is a prequel to the first movie but it seems like it's a completely unrelated story with different characters. One thing I didn't really like is that one of the characters are killed off and another character takes his face and appearance. I felt like that was a bit too sci-fi-ish and not very realistic. They could've done that differently.

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A beautiful, strange and slow film. The island's various landscapes and the traditional music are part of the main cast (with cameos by Okinawan music's cousins "Irish folk", "J-Pop" and "Opera"). I love how the film weaves together the simple story with these elements and creates a captivating film.

I like the way the story is told, the way the space the landscape itself shapes the tone of a scene, the way music also tells the story of the island's community, of their feelings and state of being. I also loved how they did the flashbacks to Nabbie and Sun Ra in 1940. The dialogue is also something to pay attention to: In some scenes words are never needed; in others, characters say what they mean, but in other words; and in some, words fall like stones into the still sea.

Only one thing, we are used to the somewhat yellowish tint in Japanese films and series -- but I felt that it was even stronger here? It must have been a conscious choice? Or else I am too used to digitally filmed media? Thinking about it, I notice that I haven't seen a colour film from the 20th century in a while.
It's sad that the film didn't capture the vibrant colours of the sea, the sky and the flowers, I think I would have loved to see that.

I'm glad that JFF provided us with additional material, especially the "Ryukyu Buyo" short (link to the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSX8VaAV4RQ), which helped a lot with understanding the music and why some of the scenes were acted the way they were.


The story elements of enduring love, leaving the island and coming back, community and spiritualism are probably much deeper than I as an outsider can ever see. It was lovely, and I cried for reasons I cannot explain myself.


Was it good? -- It was! It's deliberately slow, but well told, and I love the way they did the flashbacks to the old love story of Nabbie and Sun Ra.

Did I like it? -- I did. However, this is a film I have to be in the right mood for if I want to enjoy it.

Would I recommend it? -- To those who love to see something different, who don't mind a story that sometimes tells things coming from sideways. However, those who hate the colour palette in Japanese media should probably stay clear.

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Cute!

I thought this was a pretty cute Freaky Friday story where, instead of mother and daughter switching, it's father and daughter. The acting is pretty great and I loved seeing Jung So Min adopt the mannerisms of a middle aged dad. I thought Yoon Je Moon did a great job playing a teenage girl, too. Especially the date and karaoke scenes.

There were parts (karaoke and a scene with the psychologist) that felt pretty clearly like doubles were used. I wished for a bit more interaction from the mother and the psychologist because it seemed as if they were meant to be more significant characters, but they weren't in the film much. Also, one of Do Yeon's classmates has a pretty rough home life and nothing's really done with that. Seemed as if she was just there to encourage Do Yeon to appreciate her father more.

Overall, I think the daughter learned more lessons than the father, so it was a bit one sided. However, I still found this to be pretty cute and I laughed out loud a few times. It's a recommend if you're looking for something simple to watch about father and daughter bonding.

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"People can change"

As a fan of 2013’s Neko Zamurai (Samurai Cat), I was curious as to what the ninjas had to offer in the way of feline entertainment. Madarame and his beautiful white kitty had nothing to fear from this movie. If I had rated it as a Saturday morning kids’ television program, it would be around a 7/10.

Kagerota’s fearsome ninja father left him in a puff of smoke when the boy was only 10 years old. The child was convinced his father had turned into a ginger colored cat with a red nose just like his dad’s. Fifteen years later, Kagerota comes across what he believes is the same cat, and this time will not be parted from his father. The clan doesn’t allow cats so he leaves which is a ninja no-no. An inept group of ninja hunters led by Blue Eyes stays hot on his tail. At a small guesthouse, Momiji, one of the women who works there, ingratiates herself to Kagerota. What Kagerota may or may not know is that Momiji works for the ninja clans.

Ohno Takuro was easy on the eyes as the ninja on the loose with a ginger tabby under his arm. If you are a feline fan there were two beautiful cats, the aforementioned and a playful calico. Much like a Saturday morning show or an After School Special, there was plenty of cheesy humor and the requisite moral lessons to be learned. Loyalty, friendship, and the right to be who you choose to be messages were all wrapped up in a cuddly, furry package. Also, some fathers are better fathers as a cat.

“Cats pick who they like and live as they like.” True.

2 May 2025

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traumatic

i knew what this movie was about and i heard the comments about it heing traumatizing but i didn't expect to be this traumatizing, after watching it i cried so much and i was just depressed, although i cried so much I'm still so glad this movie was made, you don't ever see SA being represented in south korean dramas/movies so I'm so glad they made this, a lot of people don't take SA seriously and i just think that's so disgusting, SA of children and adults should be taken seriously and the criminals doing the act should be punished harshly. anf sadly the movie is about a real case, and the disgusting criminals were made innocent but the movie helped re open the case which is why i love this movie.

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Young never dies

Life giving story❤️‍🩹It was heart wrenching movie..liked a lot...must watch..
After watching this i came to know "why we should live ".You know,if we have given a chance to live life..live your life without regrets..bcoz there are many people who wish to live few more days but didn't got a second chance.
Do whatever you wish to ,bcoz your happiness is what matters and make it happen before you have to regret.💘
Tell your parents you love them,hold the hands of your dreamed one before you write the end of your story.
Give life a second chance,it will create more beautiful stories for you..
Thank u Xinyang🫂

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