Reviews

Damn

I am at loss of word. I was not expecting THIS when I dived into this movie. I though it would be a cute movie but MAN it was definitely not. Thailand has been boring me with the same old plot and same boring actors with their series and movies lately but this, takes it to a new level. The plot was literally insane. Plot twist after plot twist. Wondering who is in the right and also if anyone could be evil enough to do all that. This movie really showed what desperation can do. When Thong was willing to show his asshole to show they fucked and him almost 'raping' ('' cus i dont think he would have actually done it)Mo just to have any sort of connection to the land and also Mo to 'killing' Saeng and Sek. But in the end, they both ended with nothing. This movie is just cruel. Just when you thought there would be a happy ending for all, it snatches the hope from you and spits it back in your face. I genuinely thought that at LEAST Thong will have a happy ending. IMO he suffered the most next to Mo. He invested stupidly everything he got into this field of thorns only to get pricked by the thorns and when he was given a hand by someone to leave this place that someone was dragged into the field of thorns. It is just so sad. You really feel for the characters as they are both so pathetic and sympathetic. That you can't just help but root for both of them but alas. The acting as well was just outstanding. Jeef and Enfa did very well. This is a really good movie. Bitter but good.

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Review of the film All These Years, in my opinion this is a very good film about romance and family.

Here it is told that Chen JianXia, a student from the village, gets accepted into a high school in the city because she is ranked first in the school in her village. In the city she meets Li Ran, a rich student who also goes to school there.

Chen JianXia and Li Ran both come from troubled families so they can understand each other and go through their daily lives together as students.

But when they were in college JianXia and Li Ran separated because JianXia studied abroad. A few years later they met each other again.

When watching this I cried when I was in the scent of her family because I also felt what Chen JianXian (played by Sun Qian) experienced who was opposed by her mother and her father's inability to defend her because her mother made decisions at home and in her life.

I like the romance between Li Ran and JianXia even though their relationship sometimes goes up and down, sometimes angry, sad, and disappointed Li Ran is still good to JianXia and only wants to do the best for JianXia.

In the end I also like it because it's a happy ending even though there's a lack of conversation between her mother and JianXia but in my opinion with her younger sister who is getting more mature who finally doesn't look for trouble with her older sister (JianXia) and JianXia knows that her mother cares about her even though she's often rude to her that's enough because in my opinion the wounds that were caused by her mother when she lived with her mother before can't be healed immediately it takes time and to change someone and people's thinking especially our mother who feels she's right is very difficult because I've tried and in the end it's still only us who are wrong and she herself is right.

I really like Li Ran's sentence telling JianXia to ignore them and be yourself. I think people like JianXia who have a problematic family or patriarchy find it very difficult to ignore the words of those closest to us such as our family, friends, or acquaintances sometimes we want to reply to their words sometimes we just listen silently but in our hearts it feels very painful and sometimes their words will fill our heads for days or even months. To be ourselves is also very difficult because even though we know what our likes are, what our weaknesses are, what our fears are, we are often forced to make choices that our families think are right and do not burden them.

Chen JianXia's life at school, he only focuses on studying and his cellphone contacts are only his family when watching this I feel grateful that JianXia met and even dated Li Ran. Because I really remember that I used to have many friends and didn't even have close friends because I wanted to focus on studying and my mother scolded me for often being close to my friends. So I also felt that Chen JianXia couldn't be close to school friends. In this film I also feel grateful that Chen JianXia, who was initially a quiet person and didn't want to explain anything when he was accused of being someone who dared to say what he wanted to say to people who made rumors about him. So I also hope that I can be as brave as Chen JianXia because I am the quiet one and don't want to explain to people when people make rumors or badmouth me. I also hope that I can meet someone like Li Ran who doesn't force me, helps me, will support whatever decision I make, and will always be by my side.

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DIE WITH A SMILE .

I have been sleeping on such an amazing movie for so damn long. To be honest, it's the typical zombie movie, same effects and all but THE ACTORS, THE EMOTIONS! It all make this movie so special. Gong yoo gave his BEST and his chemistry as a father with the child actor SPEAKS VOLUMES. The scene in which he dies saving his daughter and smiles while remembering her at birth made me cry a loads (i don't normally cry watching sentimental dramas/movies). The first thing that came to my mind was the song DIE WITH A SMILE ! The ending was beautiful and sad at the same time. The daughter singing the song in the last scene was SO EMOTIONAL.

Overall it's THE PERFECT WATCH! GO FOR IT RIGHT NOW! NO REGRETS!

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No a great movie. But enough for me to finish it

Great acting. I feel like they did a great job in choosing the people that are right for the role. I also like how the story evolved. However, not including Soo-Chan and Sung-Tae in the last part doesn't feel right to me. I'm no expert. But I feel non-biased feedback is also important.

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is the 2 should be on the last part. Apart from that, the last part felt a little off as if it was just added in a hurry. I think the 1 hour and 57 minutes is too short.

Nevertheless, it's still a good movie for me. Not a great one though. But enough for me to finish the movie.

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A drama where no one wins

Motherhood is hard to watch. Many of the characters go through such demanding circumstances that you feel generally bad all around. Though through innovative storytelling we unravel the many failings of displaced trauma. The story is told into two view points. We initially see the mother's side of what she thought happened. Then we are treated with what the daughter experienced. Now the question is, which is the correct reliable narrator?

Storywise, the grandma's offer two distinct types: the over bearing hater and the gentle enabler. What I liked about this story is that they show the issues with both these sides of motherhood. Despite Rumiko growing up with a caring mother, she developed a complex to only please her mother and others above herself. Meanwhile Rumiko's mother in law is a straight up maniac. Just constantly degrading Rumiko and coddling Ritsuko while ignoring her son's plight in his younger years. The movie scathingly shows up how neither is sustainable on a child in the long run. Rumiko's mother in law is played so convincingly harpy like it's hard not to hate her. That was impressive act. While Rumiko's mother was shown with such a gentle nurturing side. She was like a ideal mother in terms of composure and warmth, which made her final scene heart wrenching.

Erika Toda herself reminds me of Shelly Duvall. She has a gentleness that comes off as a ticking time bomb. Where her emotions are just seething slightly below the surface. There were many times I was expecting her to just explode at her daughter. During her scenes, Rumiko I felt had a really interesting way of speaking about how she was trying to keep things together. It was in her line delivery that made me felt like she had so much to say but was keeping it all in.

Sayaka is played lovingly by two different people. The younger version played a very convincing child who was scared of being reprimanded by her mother. Her eyes told so much. It was great acting on her part. Mei Nagano who plays the older Sayaka has always a slight sparkle in her eye and has played this sort of part before. It was actually somewhat funny seeing a reverse of "And so the Baton is passed," her previous movie that had a very similar idea but in a completely opposite direction. Mei plays Sayaka brilliantly. You can tell all she's thinking with every little side glance. I particularly praised the scene where Sayaka comes home to her screaming grandmother who wants hot water. Both actors in this scene rely so much on body language and emotional rage. I loved it.

The father was basically non existent in this movie.

Much like how it is in asian families, father's tend to do absolutely nothing to help their children and rely on the mothers to raise their children. He barely even had many lines and for the most part he was basically shown as uncaring and emotionless due to his own background. I was hoping they were going to allow him to speak up. The focus on his painting's emotional state in the beginning was the perfect way to allow him to have some sort of emotional control. Alas that moment never really came. even when he had his scene allowing for him to explain his actions. He rarely got a word in.

As for the guts of the movie itself, the movie is shot beautifully with vivid colors and great color coordination. Many of the outfits and sets were very well done with the older 1990s setting it seemed like the world was well executed. The music, I don't really remember much of so I can't really say anything there. For the overall plot it was very meaty and I liked being able to re-frame each scene with the differing perspectives. The ending is a little iffy and kinda abrupt. I wish they spent a little more careful time for better impact. But this is how it is in relationships in reality, they are messy and they don't clean up easily.

This movie is probably best to watch when you're in for some serious drama. Although the Mother in Law is almost comical with how mean she is lol.

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A Promising Mystery That Loses It’s Way

Yeon Sang-ho’s latest Netflix film, Revelations Kdrama, is a psychological crime thriller that explores the downfall of a pastor after a life-changing event and a troubled detective tracking a serial kidnapper.

The movie weaves together the lives of these two characters in a way that feels like a nod to classic Korean crime dramas. Of the two, the pastor’s storyline is far more gripping. He starts as a quiet, devoted man focused on growing his small church, but his encounter with a mysterious and menacing visitor sends him spiraling into a completely different person.

On the other hand, the detective’s arc feels generic. While not badly written, it leans too much on familiar tropes. Haunted by visions of her deceased sister—who died tragically—she struggles with guilt and becomes obsessed with a kidnapper who once held her hostage and is now free. Eventually, these storylines converge, and that’s when the film truly shines.


Read More: https://www.dramadaze.com/revelations-kdrama-review-a-promising-mystery/

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Yeah, Mr PARK IS HANDSOME, Men like him in All Girls School Horrors will meet such an Ending, haha

This Movie is so DIFFERENT from the other movies in this Franchise, in terms of Direction and Story
(Ghosts exist in all those
but here, is it one ghost or two ghosts or does ghost exist really?
haha just Watch, to know)

U can clearly see Modern day Direction n Production (that quality maintained) here, compared to old movies.

Also all movies are about high school girls whereas here FL is the vice principal, who studied in that school n is being haunted by her school friend

Got MIXED FEELINGS n IMPRESSIONS on this Movie. Anyways, INTERESTING to watch.

***** STORY:
Doubted this as more of Psychopathic Serial killings than Ghost killings from the beginning itself, seeing Eun Hee's facial expressions throughout .
(maybe I watched too many Horrors n Thrillers with twists )
In the end, the true TWIST is revealed.

The TWIST related to the Old Lame Watchman is VERY GOOD (I doubted this all the time bcz of his interactions with others )

These little details will make U REWATCH this.

***
Intially, there are multiple mystery tracks going on with Eun Hee n Ha Young and they are shown in a parallel fashion.
Then it looked like existence of Multiple Ghosts.
This suspense and mystery is well maintained throughout the movie .

But by the time, a mystery is about to clear, the scene is cut abruptly n another mystery starts. So there is some confusion created with the editing.
The screenplay is Good but editing is bad.

***
Ha young is shown as a troublesome teenager who is impossible to handle, as arrogant n bratty - Very irritated to watch her
But as the story progresses, her true story is unfolded.
Poor Ha Young! :(

As an international viewer, Initially confused with the soldiers attacking students n civilians.
Later came to know with some research that it is about 1980's Gwangju Uprising in Korea :(

***
Surprisingly, MEN played important roles in this story, unlike the other movies in this franchise 🤭

As the gals said, Mr. Park is very handsome ;) but whatever Eun Hee did with him, is the Right Thing!
He deserved it!
Well Done, Eun Hee!

Eun Hee actress, she acted in the 4th movie, Voice as music teacher.
Her acting here is Very Good, especially in the scenes where she saves Ha young from Mr Park

***
STORY is WELL WRITTEN.
A Mix of psychopathic person with psychological problems with a touch of haunting of ghosts.
(So Rating for the story itself should be high)

ACTING by everyone is GOOD

*****
PACING is RIGHT n GOOD.
No moment of boredom throughout the movie n no boring content fillers .

Screenplay, Story Narration are GOOD
But the EDITING is like sudden cuts in the scenes, at times - IRRITATING!
n so my rating is just 8, instead of 8+

The Horror Effects, the Haunting Scenes (Jump Scares or the gal Screams😂) are GOOD

I expected the Humming sound (as the title suggests) to be played as BGM throughout the movie for more horror effect but No, I found it only in one scene, so a bit disappointed.

My ONLY COMPLAINT here is:
First they took a lot of time to establish the story but rushed in the end, leaving some points unclear .

***** JUST SOME THOUGHTS:
Why do all of them roam in School, especially in the abandoned haunted wing during Nights ! :o 😂

Also, What's with the "Red Lipsticks" for school students during school hours :o

***** HEAVY SPOILERS:
THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

Overall, LIKED THIS
but there are few unclear points left unanswered by the end of the movie:

The headless body is of the person in window incident or of the soldier.
If it is soldier's, when did Eun Hee kill him?
Back then, it was shown as she had hurt him with his nametag but not killing him or is it implied?

Also, the TWIST in the end, I took as Eun Hee's friend character doesn't exist at all, her character is just Eun Hee's hallucinations bcz in the final actual scenes, Eun Hee is seen alone in the guitar n pots scenes n not with her friend as shown in her memories of same scenes previously.
but then this arises another question "so Eun Hee's trauma n psychological problems didn't arise from the soldier's incident?", "So Eun Hee is seeing an imaginary friend even before the soldier incident? "

*****
My Rating is 8 / 10
Less rating only bcz of lil bad editing as said above.
Else would be higher and this would be the BEST in the Franchise n also would be included as one of the Good Horrors, overall.

Also, Would have rated this movie, More as 8+ if the unanswered questions had been clarified n given a proper closure to the viewers.

Now left with some sort of negative impressions, not to love this movie more :/

In this Franchise, Liked the 4th movie n this one Equally.
Story-wise, both are equally good and liked.

*****
Check out my Reviews for other movies in this Franchise :)

Liked Movies in the Franchise, in the order:
6 = 4 > 5 = 1 > 3 > 2

My Rating for 6 movies in this Franchise, out of 10:
6.5, 5.5, 6, 8, 7.5, 8

Last three movies are very good with twists.
First three movies are mediocre.
But all 6 movies covered a wide variety of horror tropes.

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Smile, and it will attract all kinds of luck your way

Our childhoods are driven by what we learn from our parents. Some of us don't have the luxury of knowing those parents all of our lives but the ones that take their place have impact on us no matter how small a role they play. "And so the Baton was passed " is a beautiful story about how the young Mitan manages to live a good life despite her various changes in parenthood. Do we then hate the parent for their abandonment? Is there more reasoning to forgive them? Can we call our foster parents our real parents?

That is what this story tries to answer.

The story is a little complex at first as there's many moving parts to Mitan's life. Rika enters Mitan's life as someone who had no aim in life. She drifted from place to place but she found a home. That stability quietly ceases as her secret concerns start to way heavily on her. Then from this place onward, Mitan is moved around to different homes as Rika tries to better seemingly her own life.

There seems little disregard to what Mitan is feeling.Rika is played with such vigor it's hard to hate her. Throughout the movie it feels like the movie frames her in a way that we are not supposed to root for her. But it's hard not to because of the magnetic performance of Ishihara Satomi. When we are eventually clued into the full story, there's a heart crushing sense of understanding with who Rika is as a character. She's made bad decisions yes, but she was only after the best interest of Mitan. Her actions are then redefined in a more positive light adding much nuance to her character arc. These decisions still may not sit well with the audience, but that is the point.

The young actress playing Mitan does a bang up job pulling at your heart strings. We can all relate to her sadness, as I am sure we have had parents make decisions that caused us sadness in our past in some way. The young Mitan has a beautiful scene where she learns of the soothing power of the piano. When they overlayed these stories of the young Yuko in the beginning, at first it was a little confusing. I thought there was 2 stories playing before I realized what was going on. This was probably due to the odd editing in the beginning. But it made more sense after they started revealing more of the backstory.

A teenage Mitan now going by Yuko is played with heart and quiet sadness. Mei Nagano has such a soothing voice, it's really well suited for characters that are a little downtrodden. I thought her portrayal was so strong and she had so many emotional scenes. I admired how she was able to emote sadness, happiness,heartbreak, triumph in all her different tears.I think she is well on her way to become a great actor in her mature years. She's already so strong based on things I've seen in her before. She hasn't hit her ceiling yet and you can tell she's got a lot more in her future career.

Morimiya san had a strong fatherly presence that was well balanced and felt very natural. I enjoyed their many interactions during their eating sessions. A particular scene with them cooking together is where I appreciated their chemistry. The dialogue used between them also felt very natural and had that timing you get when you've known that person for a long time.

The love interest Hayase kun doesn't play a huge role in this movie. But he's crucial to include as he's the reason a few things happen in this movie. His relationship with his parents also show the stark contrast with her own parents. To be honest, he felt somewhat simple as a character. But as the focus was on Yuko this was fine. He didn't distract from the mainline plot. I'm sure if this was a series there be a whole backstory about his single mother and lack of direction.

Once the movie's plot starts rolling in full gear, the movie is hard to put down. We are strung along with hope and faith that things turn out ok for these families. The plot plays a lot with expectations only to throw those out the window. I think that's one good thing about this film. I felt they were pushing the story in a certain direction only for them to remain steadfast and keep you engaged with the reality of things. Japan's dramatic cinema tends to have these melodramatic cliffs sometimes, but I find a lot of the ones I have consumed will include realistic moments of levity. Each time we experience a little joy, there comes a sharp hit of sadness. It makes for high notes and the low notes.

Speaking of which,I would also like to mention the moving piano pieces in the movie. The graduation sequence will probably hit everyone hard. The movie's title I felt should of been something more to do with the musical motif the film had. However in context of the actual plot the baton is more apt. I do think they sort of shoehorned in the reasoning for the name right at the beginning. But it made sense in terms of Morimiya's character trying to make up for his own failures with Yuko's upbringing.

The passing of the baton is a responsibility that is entrusted to the your next teammate. It is within this trust that we work together and pass the finish line. It is important that we strive to carry this baton with our utmost care, just like the passing of you from your parents to the world ahead.

It is in that regard that I hope this movie doesn't pass you by.

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A perfect end to end off the series

After watching the series, moving directly into a movie was the right call. In the beginning the movie felt like just a tv movie. But as soon as they started adding in elements of the investigation and more background to the main reformed criminal, it felt more like a theatrical movie. That was the distinguishing reason why you could call this a movie rather then an extended special. This distinction is important now due to so many shows going to movie endings. There was just enough extra in this that the movie felt warranted as this was a extra complicated case meant to be taken in one go.

The story was a perfect way to end this series. After the first 3 people she helped all dealt with different aspects of criminal history, this movie dealt with the most appropriate unexplored side yet. This movie dealt with the failings of the institutions meant to help those in need: The police, the orphanages, the care workers and the lawyers. Which in contrast to the series was a very smart way to go. Zenkamono came full circle showing all the things capable of creating and sustaining the cycle of victim hood. Covering the failures of the people meant to help those in need was a strong subject that needed to be addressed in a story like this and in glad that they didn't just end up going with another story created by personal issues. As mentioned earlier this is the reason why they needed the extra time to properly represent the many ways in which things can fail.

Kasumi plays her part very strongly in this movie. After a point you can feel that she strongly recognizes what resonates with Kayo and her motivations. The movie finally fully explains what happened to drive Kayo to be a probation officer and how it affected her growing up. In the aftermath we also learn that she became estranged from her former love interest Shinji who has become a police officer due to the same incident she experienced. The contrast between these two greatly affected how they see criminals and rehabilitation. This differing of opinion is very much a reality in this world unfortunately. How others perceive criminals after they have returned to society are at odds with common morality. It's a devastating topic to be explored.

The movie does not shy away from showing scenes of child abuse and crooked cops. These were important in the discussion of how the world can be so cruel and unjust. This allowed for the story to show both sides of the morality. Nothing is ever black and white. The same could be said about our major criminal pair. They had reasonable vengeance expectations but as the movie reiterates, all this does is create more victims in a never ending cycle. The acting for the main brothers was sorta uneven however. They felt the least compelling out of all the characters. The youngest brother was a little too overly dramatic, creating a cartoonish like quality to his character. The main brother also was fairly mute with little body language I found, so it was hard to gauge his acting capability. He did deliver on his final scene however. This didn't overall affect how they were portrayed as abused humans. I just thought they needed a little balance.

Midori makes a return and finishes up her arc with Kayo in a beautiful way. I thought it was sweet that Midori is there to witness Kayo repent for her own crime of stealing a library book in the end. Showing Midori that Kayo isn't some perfect person either. That's just something that stuck with me.

Great overall movie where you don't need to watch the series necessarily but it definitely be more impactful understanding Midori's scenes.

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We make ourselves monstrosities, lest others look down on us

An hilarious horror comedy, satire.
In Dead Talents Society,, the afterlife, is a metaphor for Acting and Celebrity culture....right down to the use of the term Ghostress - as obsolete and out of date as the term Actress.

The premise: Your existence, after death, requires acknowledgement in life. The worst thing that can happen in this world is that you're no longer acknowledged so you literally disappear.

Your family's maintenance of your acknowledgements is one way, to continue existing. VERY VISIBLE haunting is another. Your cause of death is important. Ideally you want a "golden spoon death," for haunting power - "Suicide Due To Unrequited Love," being the absolute BEST! The catch is, in order to be visible to the living, you have to have a Haunting Licence (a metaphorical actors union card). To get one you have to pass an audition and pay the fees.

Taking the metaphor further, the more your haunting is 'viewed', the more viral it goes, the more you earn....to cover the costs of you licence. And your haunting is judged and categorised, and in the running for The Golden Haunt awards! 10/10 for the puntastic humour!

This is worth a view for its silliness, but with just enough pathos to make it endearing. It is NOT scary at any point, so horror avoiders can definitely watch.. it's a good example of how the music/sound sets the tone, as without it, it's all very much OTT make-up and back bends.

For a bit of silly self-torture, watch through the end credits for Makoto's song.

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