Reviews

Snow Man is a delight to watch.

The closest thing I knew of Kabuki prior to watching this was when I played a Japanese mobile game about a theater company back in 2018. Since then, I have always wondered what a real Kabuki performance looks like, especially during the time when I became really invested in watching different stage plays.

It seemed like the universe heard my plea and gave me a film starring Snow Man in a Kabuki production, showcasing their range as artists. What's even more fascinating is that I didn't have to scour the ends of the internet to watch it, as it is readily available on Netflix in my country.

Takizawa Kabuki Zero 2020 is such a delight to watch as both a theater fan and a Snow Man fan. The film successfully blends the traditional aspects of Kabuki with the modern elements of a concert. The first act highlighted Snow Man's dancing and acrobatic abilities, while the second act mainly focused on their acting skills.

Overall, it was a truly entertaining show. We were able to see everyone's dynamics from time to time, and each member had the chance to shine in one way or another. I genuinely hope that Snow Man continues to do more theater—both live and on film—because they are a joy to watch.

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Assured, poetic and a gently unassuming cinematic masterpiece

Takeshi Kitano is one of the few directors who can bring me to tears in seemingly every manner possible, A Scene at the Sea is no exception. A beautifully realised tale of an outsider who almost unwittingly finds himself embraced by a community he seems virtually indifferent to in his single-minded determination to master a new and chance-discovered obsession. Tethered to only the slightest narrative, the film evokes the experience of early love and disappointment in a manner both sharp and tender. Kitano has managed to excel himself by retaining all the interesting and original traits of his more graphic films, yet managing to tell a story that is just as deep and provocative, only to a more subtle degree. With much of the film playing with no dialogue at all, it's down to the body language and facial expressions of the performers, the shot choice and the editing skills of the director to tell the story, you only need to have seen one of Kitano's other directorial works to know that this is a long way from a tall order. The camera work is extremely sedate and enveloping, managing to capture the beautiful tranquillity of the ocean. The characters do not speak, yet the story never seems to drag at all, with each scene drawing the viewer steadily into this very attractive and insular world that they inhabit. And then there's Joe Hisaishi's music... A haunting mixture of marimba, synthesisers, piano & strings, it augments the atmospheric stillness and compliments the mood of the film perfectly. A hugely important film in Kitano's development as a filmmaker, one in which he discarded his dramatic safety net to tell a small story in a resolutely minimalist fashion and scored a bold, quietly brilliant bulls-eye. There's no violence, precious little dialogue and the tone and pacing vary little throughout, yet the hold exerted by the characters and storytelling is considerable, one that speaks in confident whispers instead of shouting its qualities in the manner of more attention-grabbing early works from any number of younger filmmakers the world over. A Scene at the Sea remains to this day one of his most assured, poetic and yet gently unassuming cinematic achievements, one that can be genuinely moving but never slips for a moment into sentimentality. I love it.

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Watch this for my MDL 2024 challenge. Quite interesting, it just has a very big but…

Story about a widow named Tampopo. Her husband died not long before, and she struggles to maintain the ramen restaurant left by her late husband. One day, a truck driver, Goro, comes to the restaurant & sees Tampopo being harassed by her customer. Can’t just stand by seeing that, Goro decided to help Tampopo, but just to be defeated. But from that accident, the friendship between Goro & Tampopo started.

Tampopo who struggles about the restaurant finally has the courage to ask Goro for help. Goro, with the help of some people, helps Tampopo gather the perfect recipe for ramen… And later even to renew the shop for Tampopo...

That's pretty much the story without giving any spoilers. Tampopo is a really clever woman, she managed to trick a few people / chefs to give her the recipe without them realizing it. It was so fun to see her gather the recipe.

This is actually really quite an interesting old movie, even though I watch it today time, I don't feel it's too old. But unfortunately, the scene in the movie mixed with the scene unrelated to the story. I don’t know it just the style at that time or what, but it really affected me who watch it today.

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Korea Ura

Harbin was an emotional and patriotic retelling of the Korean independence fighters' struggles for independence. Phenomenal cast, hooking plot, amazing soundtrack. It had lots of potential.

Honestly, you had to be patient for the action to come. They spend a lot of time focusing on characters who didn't exist historically just to beef up the plot, such as Lee Dong Wook and Jung Woo Sung. I wish they would have kept the plot truer to the original story, instead of trying to make it more "movie-style". They could've dug deeper into the annexation of Korea rather than having the many action scenes. Nevertheless, the second half was amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat with twists at every corner. The story was a rollercoaster of emotions.

The acting was superb. You can't go wrong with Hyun Bin. His performance was deep and emotional. The other actors were phenomenal too. The soundtrack was well-made for the film as well. I was immersed the entire time. Especially, when Ahn shot Hirobumi and began shouting "Korea Ura", that's when my heart broke. Long live Korea.

Most of these independence fighters dedicated their life for their country's independence, yet never lived to see it. They left their families to fight for Korea. Ahn Jung Geun's life story is way deeper than the movie shows. I would suggest researching him and the righteous army militias. It is truly heartbreaking. The last moments of Ahn's life were gutwrenchingly sad, and not portrayed in the film. I wish they would've spent more time on showing the consequences of Hirobumi's assassination. These fighters fought so hard and made Korea what it is today.

Overall, Harbin was a good look into Korean independence. It had potential to be better, but it was still sufficient as is. The movie was an emotional ride. The film honored and shed a light on the independence fighters. I hope that this history of Korea is never forgotten. Korea Ura.

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Catch a Ride Don't Sweep By °7.6° °VG°

‘That haul is worth $500.00.’ That thar haul’s a massive load of metal ~ the size of a medium building ~ and they give him 500 bucks. Space sweepers are scrappers who sell what they find floating out in the expanse. Making a livin ain't easy. They are paid in cash, because people that aren't citizens of the UTS Corporation aren't afforded any credit. Our crew runs into trouble when they're scrapping a wreck and find a little girl in the rubble.

There's pictures of this little girl all over the news. Apparently, she's an android with a hydrogen bomb planted inside of her. By the time the crew realizes this, they already have her on the ship. They're terrified, until they realize they could probably make some money off of her. That's how it starts. They keep the action flowing. It goes by fast for the time allotment - there's no dead spots. SS is a 2021 136-minute release that is rated 70/78 on RT, 6.5 on IMDB, 86 on AWiki, and 8.3 on MDL.

Song Joong-ki (Arthdal Chronicles, Descendants of the Sun-8.3, Reborn Rich) is ML, Tae-ho. Kim Tae-ri (Mr. Sunshine, Revenant) plays Captain Jang. Yoo Hai-jin (A Taxi Driver, Exhuma) gives voice to Bubs. Kim Hyang-gi (Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds-7.2, Salon De Nabi) is Bubs' New Body. Jin Sun-kyu (Uprising, Through the Darkness, Revenant) portrays Tiger Park. Richard Armitage (The Hobbit (liked it), North and South(loved it), & Castlevania-8.4) portrays James Sullivan / The CEO of UTS. Kim Moo-yul (Forgotten, Juvenile Justice) plays Kang Hyun-woo, and Oh Ji-yul (The Glory) is Su-ni. The screenwriter/director is Jo Sung Hee of A Werewolf Boy and additional screenwriters are Yoon Seung Min & Yoo Kang Seo Ae. The film is based on original creator/webtoonist Hongjacga's work.

SS is a classic style Sci-fi film. The primary criticism would be that it's formulaic. It follows some familiar flows and patterns, as well as recycled plot devices typical of action films. At this point in entertainment, we can't expect new things all the time, because most human stories actually do follow similar patterns. Human behavior is such. What's good about SS is the acting, the artistry and the sets, which are excellent with their well used, dirty, not pristine state. The plot may feel familiar, but there are a couple departures. There's a little twist at the end which is rather nice, and everybody does not get what they want.

SS doesn't deserve the 6.5 rating that it currently has on IMDB. I arrived at a 7.6 which means it doesn't quite reach an 8, but it is very good. This is for people who enjoy space films. Everything in SS is solidly competent. One has to wonder if people turned away when they realized it wasn't an entirely English-speaking film? It's primarily Korean, but several different nationalities and languages are featured before things settle down with the one K-crew. It has an international feel which is rather nice.

I've been hooked on foreign features for a while, as Hollywood has been so dumbed down it's insulting. With their overabundance of outstanding actors, Asian features are my current favorites - The thespians are definitely there for their merit. I'm a big fan of Korean shows, and the confidence & range of their child actors is always astounding. What's been missing is the high quality special-effects, but SS represents a change. Kdrama and Chinese features are getting more popular and their budgets are booming. So, hop on SS and other foreign features for a great ride.


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬8 🖊️〰7 🎭8.5 🌞8 🎨7.5 ⚡8 😅6 🤔6 🔚9


👁📺again? Not opposed


Recommendations:

⚡/🚀 -
K2 8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Private Lives 8.1,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Glitch-8,
Vagabond-8,
Uncanny counter season-1 only-S1-8.4 S2-4,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Sisyphus 8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
Revenge of Others-8.6,
Blood Free-8.5,
Moving-8.3,,
D.P.-8.4,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
The Wailing-8.8,
Parasite-9,
Mother-8.8,
Black 9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

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Full on Ninja Mania

Pitting the lethal arts of Chinese Kung Fu and Japanese ninjitsu against each other in a battle for supremacy, Ninja in the Dragon's Den seemingly has everything you'd ever want out of a martial arts film and the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure, be it ridiculous stilt fighting, ninjas galore, demonic possession, the hero fighting the latter half of the movie in a pink outfit and female anatomy saving the day, this is undoubtedly a classic; a mixture of typical Jackie Chan-style comedy and hard-hitting ninja action, but unusually the two styles mix very well and the film, as a result, is great fun. This Hong Kong / Japanese co-production came about due to the explosion of ninja-mania in the early 80s, one that showcases the contrasting styles of its two cultures in plenty of no-holds-barred and hilarious action. For being Corey Yuen's directorial debut, he pretty much knocked it out of the park on his first go, despite the conventional storyline he manages to give the material a slightly unusual twist, a credit to his years as an action choreographer, offering up highly entertaining set pieces with an endearing vein of slapstick humour. Young Conan Lee and Hiroyuki Sanada are particularly well-rounded here, although Sanada eclipses Lee for most of the runtime, the film does a great job of exhibiting their respective skills. Playing as an offbeat tribute and parody of its own Ninjaspolitation sub-genre, it's hard not to love Ninja in the Dragon’s Den, an exhilarating action film that fully delivers for every second of its running time, the amazingly repetitive theme song certainly reinforces that.

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freenbecky

here’s what i personally think. i think the story to this movie was actually amazing. the movie was good getting the main point across. freenbecky were great as always. the storyline jumped all over the place but that is the plot line with parallel universes. the english spoke didn’t flow very well and was still hard to understand from non-english speaking persons. i think the overall plot was good but the storyline could have been more set in stone with how the story was laid out, it made the movie feel sorta rushed. i think the ending also could have been better with a happier ending

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I'm not even mad at the ending

The premises to this movie sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a watch. And I must say that I was not disappointed. Sati got into an accident, and now he's got amnesia. The only way for him to remember anything is to take a picture the exact way the previous one was, and he would get a flash of memory from that said picture. It is through this that we see the relationship between Sati and his wife, Meta. It can be seen through these memories that it is not at all perfect. Trapped between them is their daughter, Namo, who despises her dad so much.

The wife for many years had given her all to her marriage, but Sati did not appreciate it. So, I'm glad for the realistic ending where Sati wants them to be together as he says that he's not that old Sati, and he would not make those mistakes again. But for Meta, she does not want to go back to that. She has lived it—she remembers it. So, it's good that she is thinking about herself, and also she's putting herself first before her husband and family, as she previously did. While it may not have worked out for Sati and Meta, the relationship between father and daughter has, and at least Sati can be proud of this.

If I had seen this movie a few years ago, I would have actually thrown a tantrum as it was not the HEA ending. Now, I agree with this ending as it is the most suitable ending between the couple. I must say, what did annoy me a little was the amount of pictures being taken out throughout the movie. It got annoying after a while for me. I do understand the point of it, though, as it was a mechanism for the storyline to move forward.

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