Reviews

Don't Dive Into This

Holy moly what a letdown. After a fantastic Season 1 and a difficult Season 2, the movie wraps it all up by being probably the worst of it all. This feels, in all honesty, like it is trying its absolute hardest to not connect itself to the previous Season. They literally handwaive an incredibly important change to one of the characters with a snarky retort, that's how shoddily they treat Season 2. The only recurring reference to it is a single sentence and the visuals of Nanaha being deceased, but the latter could honestly be assumed through offscreen shenanigans or a timeskip between Season 1 and the movie. And as rough as I felt Season 2 was, I think avoiding any connection to the season is worse than sticking to your guns and continuing to reference the season. The plot is absolutely ridiculous - you're telling me the monsters who can easily overpower and kill and actively eat humans would be something that anyone at any point would think is a good idea to have as a form of cattle? Why did Tachibana think this is a good idea? Is he stupid? It reminded me of the story The Promised Neverland but at least in that story the villains are the creatures that overpower humans and not the other way around. It really didn't make much sense to me. The new character with his Neo-Alpha transformation ability was not explained - you're literally told "it's against the rules for me to tell" and then I guess everyone including the scriptwriters thought to themselves "I guess it would be rude for us to say anything else about it then". But like, the ending of Season 2 mentioned a new Sigma project as the stinger for further stories? Was he the new Sigma? But he wasn't Sigma, he was Neo-Alpha? What the hell is this?

I think the only thing that I liked about this movie was both Jin and Haruka crossing their personal borders to continue their fights - Jin killing a Human and Haruka eating a... Wait, Haruka didn't eat a human being, Haruka ate an Amazon. Is that the same thing in this world? I mean they're obviously meant to be humans but like, humans are eating Amazons, so are they not? If they are, did it satiate Haruka? What does this imply for any of the Amazons in the prior seasons? Did any of them try to eat each other?

This movie just ends up leaving so many questions, and not good ones. Really rough way to end a story.

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“It took so long… I was 25, and now I’m 33.”

I truly feel sorry for everything this woman had to endure. All the unbearable hardships she faced just to make her voice heard. The worst part of these agonizing years was reading people's comments criticizing her for having the courage to come forward, to speak up against that disgusting predator, and to expose his filthy truth! Even worse, women, those who were supposed to stand by her! didn't believe her words...

At the end of the documentary, I cried tears of joy. This wasn’t the end of everything, and she still has a long and painful road ahead, but it felt so good to see her finally win after all these years, to see her voice finally heard. Even though the documentary was only an hour and a half, I felt like I had walked those eight years right beside her.

Ito shiori, stay strong and keep going. You are one of the strongest women I have ever seen in my life.

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What are the chances you can be interested in the plot ?

I think this movie is for really small circle of people.

First thought, it resembles the wolf of wall street. If you know you know.

I watched it in Korean with Spanish subs, as half conversations were in Spanish and I speak Spanish. I want to visit Bogota and love kdramas and one of my fav actors is Song Joong Ki - what were the chances of such combination!

On top of that, 1997-2008 - I used to live in Russia, I was a child, but I was aware of similar situation with goods, not sure from where, maybe from China. I cannot though confirm if what happened in the movie did happen in Bogota, Columbia, but it was similar in post-soviet era.

Interesting observation, I am not sure if I needed this flashback from my adolescence - there used to be a lot of similar movies in Russia, especially at the end of 90-s, about the period of wild capitalism and new market, which started after collapse of USSR. However, they usually had dark end for main leads. I didn't expect Guk Hui to survive.

I am glad Netflix aired the movie, I enjoyed it, though there were boring moments. I would give it 8/10, though I understand where current rating came from, as in this case I am not sure who was the targeted audience.

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Keep Tissue Close By

First - do not expect a warm fuzzy ending. It’s been 10 minutes since this movie ended and I am fighting off a second wave of tears.

I am usually not too affected by high school love stories, but this one broke my heart. I have felt this type of pain from the loss of my husband, and was quite envious of their ability to tell each other how they felt before they were permanently separated in the end.

The movie itself was very sweet it its development between the leads and how they grew close. And while I find these noble ‘sacrifice’ story lines annoying sometimes, this one made me quite sad.

The ML (what a gifted actor he is!) and the FL grew close because of friendship and shared interests, not an attack of random hormone release, and this is how lasting relationships should begin. A steady slow burn that stokes a fire that lasts a lifetime.

It was refreshing that there weren’t any psycho ex’s or ranting parents throwing fits and causing havoc. I am glad they focused on this instead of including tropes that distracted from the story.

Their separation was sweet and something neither wanted, but adults will be adults when it comes to making decisions regarding their families.

I am glad they left out how he ended up losing his life, because I’d still be sobbing if it had been included.

The ending was bittersweet. The FL finally found out what happened to him, and she finally got to see his love for her reflected in the video he had left behind.

I really loved this movie despite its ending. It was beautifully filmed and the cast was perfectly cast. Frankly, I don’t even remember anything about the music, that’s how much my mind was engaged in the story.

I think this will be my go to drama when I need a good cry and to cherish memory’s if the past.

Keep the tissues close at hand for the ending. You’ll need them.

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THIS IS A TOTAL...

This is a total masterpiece. So, this AMAZING show right here, was thrilling, at the same time very very funny. It's been so long since I laughed this hard! The way the scenes made me laugh even during the most thrilling situations. These two guys, I'm telling you, are insane! They're total wackos, like, in a good way, I mean!

STORY
A very very informative story, which I really loved. The two student-police guys, (Park Ki-Joon - Park Seo-Jun and Kang Hee-Yeol - Kang Ha-Neul) are literal goofballs. They, at a certain time, find a girl getting kidnapped, and they follow her and a bunch of things happen. I really don't want to spoil the fun!

ACTING and CAST
Park Seo Jun!!! OMG! His role is a somewhat idiot (?) but then, when it comes to being serious, he's just kinda serious! The funniest role, like I laughed sooooo loud! I think... the same goes with Ha Neul, I thought at first, he is some kind of a nerd, but turned to be another goofball! Their roles are soooo funny, LOVE their Chemistry!! Perfect fit roles!

I CAN REWATCH THIS MANY MANY MANY MANY TIMES!

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Cookie and Cockroach

At the time when Korea was struck with financial crisis some Koreans went to search for a better life opportunity in Colombia only to realize that Colombia has not only financial issues but also violence and corruption. So in this movie the capital of Colombia, Bogotá, is a background for the story about the difficult life of Korean immigrants and especially their relationship between themselves. The plot is centered about one young Korean immigrant Kuk-hee (Cookie) who is quickly adapting to the new reality and building a path of his own. His personality is what made this movie above average. Yes, the scenery is beautiful, the production is on a high level, and the story is interesting, but it would be a forgetful movie without the main protagonist. The camera often focuses on his face, and it makes us relate with his emotions through all the trials until the satisfying conclusion.

One other Korean is called a Cockroach, representing the animal that has a high level of survivability. He and all the other people in the movie develop some sort of tension toward Cooke. It goes to show the ancient truth: homo homini lupus - man is a wolf to man. This is categorized as action crime thriller, but most of all, this is a human drama about the challenges of immigrant life.

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Selfish love, addiction, destruction, and literary revolution.

"I want to die. I must die. Living itself is the source of sin. As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn't matter how, I'll be alright."
~No longer Human, Osamu Dazai

I started this film without reading the synopsis but with a wholehearted trust in Oguri Shun, and I was not disappointed.

It's one of those films that doesn't want you to question your moral values, because this simply was a biopic of a blood and flesh human who made life choices that might not be the best, but you have no choice but to accept, "It is real; that's what happened, whether I like it or not." I personally found him exploring self-sabotage and how Japanese society progressed in a very dreamy, unique way. I see some people don't like him, though and I was fascinated to see why.

The storyline revolves around Osamu Dazai, a wife, his two lovers, and the questionable lifestyle choices he made in his 38 years of life. The whole film gives you an eyegasm with its beautiful cinematography of Mount Fuji, cherry blossoms, pretty traditional costumes, and brilliant camera angles.

I don't have anything to say to anyone but the wife, Michiko: "Michiko, I loved you more than anyone" I don't know how much he meant by saying that, but she's the one who sticked to him in thick and thin and showed massive strength to hold this falling "family" together. She's the one whom he needed and she's the one got most neglected. That smile at the end was a sign of relief.

Overall, it's a film about a not-so-great human being trying to create great literature and balance life in the world that he complicated himself. Don't expect it to be a great story that will open your third eye and let you see the world differently, the point is not to glorify but feel this is reality, and that is shitty as hell.

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Terrified!

I liked a lot of things in this movie, but in the end it just looks like an attempt to bring us some life changing message that isn’t there. I wouldn’t say it’s a good watch because it feels like my time was wasted expecting an amazing story or some plot changes that could make it enjoyable, however the choices the characters made, their actions towards people they love are simply unpredictable- and not in a good way - which left the viewer only great filmography of the greatest sights of New York most of the time. On the other hand, with a great cast, Past Lives shows in an interesting way a premise that a lot of other Korean productions talk about fate and connections between lives by dealing with regret, which is the main idea of this film. Therefore, although it is a great attempt, it fails in summarizing it’s message with a bad ending while leaving the viewer with an incomplete answer of how we can live despite the wrong or bad decisions we make. Do we have the power to follow our fate? How many chances we have to meet our 인연? Finally, the final scene had me wondering about it, and got me frustrated because of the wasted potential.

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An intriguing film that tackles an important issue.

The story is told from three perspectives on events in a young boy's life. It is a "simple" film, but precisely because of this raw approach, it creates several moments of tension and suspense. I believe that knowing the film's central theme in advance took away much of the element of surprise for me, which slightly affected my experience. Despite this, it was precisely the theme that made me interested in watching the film.

I would like to highlight the children's performances, which are outstanding. Overall, it is a great film with multiple messages about different aspects of life, a good pace, and intriguing moments.

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