A heartwarming prequel
I came straight from watching Unintentional Love Story to watching The Time Of Fever, literally a day later. Luckily I was late watching Unintentional Love Story so The Time Of Fever was already all out and finished by the time I watched it! I absolutely loved this movie/drama, a movie split into episodes (it’s how I watched it). I knew it was a prequel so I knew it was Donghee and Hotae’s story beforehand, and what a beautiful story it was, with all the emotions combined. I love how they supported each other, Donghee was always there to aid Hotae’s wounds from being hit by girls and how Hotae was there for Donghee after his father. I just wish we could have seen a little more, maybe some more back story of Donghee with his family.But overall, I really did enjoy this, I was in awe with the visuals, the emotions and the connection between the two characters. But I do wish it wasn’t a movie and it had multiple episodes like Unintentional Love Story, and I really hope in the future there’s another spin off with them in the future and we can get a full story of their future with multiple episodes!
Was this review helpful to you?
Summer Lemongrass
I watched this movie at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival.After the screening, there was a guest session where the director, writer, and lead actors discussed the movie with the audience.
Overall, it's a youth romance movie, so the plot is fairly common—or I should say, very common.
However, the execution of the entire movie wasn’t bad. I liked it.
What I liked:
1. The male and female characters were portrayed as 'normal' high school students, without any over-the-top actions, childish voices, or exaggerated coolness.
2. The male and female leads spoke multiple languages—Taiwanese, English, Spanish, and French—throughout the movie. They’re polyglots, which made me envious!
3. The second male lead was also portrayed as a good character. His moment begging the vet to open the clinic to help the dog of the man the girl he loves cares about was his golden moment. He’s also talented in music.
4. The difficulty of long-distance relationships was realistically portrayed. They drifted apart slowly, breaking up without explicitly saying it.
5. In the reconciliation scene, some people might disapprove of the male lead’s actions, like saying the kiss was without consent, but I support it. His third wish came true. Sometimes, you don’t need explanations—actions can clear the grey areas.
6. The ending was cute.
What I disliked:
1. The title 'I Am the Secret in Your Heart' doesn’t seem fitting. 'Lemongrass of Our Youth' would be better. The English title doesn’t reflect the core of the story. Even by the end, the female lead didn’t know she was the male lead’s childhood friend. Or maybe the title implies that some secrets should remain secrets.
2. The movie’s focus on high school and college/work phases was roughly 2:1, which felt a bit unbalanced. Wanna see more of college-work era.
Was this review helpful to you?
Loved it!!
It really feels like I’m watching a movie from the 2010’s again. The plot is good and there aren’t any mind-bangingly frustrating miscommunications (ironically). It was such a fun lovely movie to me that I couldn’t really predict what was going to happen.It’s by no means ground-breaking or anything but it’s not like every piece of media needs to be. I still enjoyed it and there were even instances I rewatched because of context given later on in the movie.
Overall, if you’re just looking for a simply good romance movie I’d definitely give this one a watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
What makes a monster?
Underground Monster’s poster looked like a cute kid’s movie. Don’t you believe it. Older children might be able to watch it but there were some scary creepy crawlies and two-legged monsters as well. This was a movie that couldn’t quite decide whether it wanted to take itself seriously or be a comedy so it threw a little of everything at the wall to see what would stick. It could be hard to tell what stuck with all of the trash heaps lying around.Construction workers digging a new tunnel come across a cave filled with giant piles of trash. It’s not long before they realize the trash is hiding an even more giant monster. Not everyone makes it out of the hole. On the surface and down the road Xiao Jie and his father He Chi are spending time together. He Chi makes his living collecting junk and is divorced from Xiao Jie’s mom. When the construction worker’s truck speeds by, a crate with a large green egg falls out. He Chi picks it up to see if it’s worth anything. Ex-wife Wu Lin Na is waiting at his home and not happy that Xiao Jie is spending time with his dad. Later that evening, the egg hatches and mama monster comes looking for her baby.
The Underground Monster looked like a combination of Disney Mermaid’s Ursala and The Simpson’s Kang. The CGI was okay but not great. They did give the monster a very expressive face, especially after it kidnapped Xiao Jie thinking he was her baby. The bond between the two was endearing. The trash cave became crowded as both parents, a mad scientist with a beard so fake you could see the tape holding it on and his kookier assistant, as well as a group of vengeful construction workers converged with different goals for the protective monster.
The slapstick scientist and assistant ruined the mood of the film for me. While I was happy to see The Snow Monster again and the snow sharks from that movie (Snow Monster 2019), it was not worth the over-the-top acting by the two while the devastated parents played their parts straight as did the murderous tunnel workers.
There were a few cute and emotional scenes in Underground Monster between the child and monster. There were also some disturbing ones. The film drove home the point that humans and their propensity to trash the planet might be the true monsters. They were also the ones who wanted to kill first and ask questions later. The movie reminded me of the song from Beauty and the Beast:
“We don't like
What we don't understand
In fact it scares us
And this monster is mysterious at least
Bring your guns!
Bring your knives!
Save your children and your wives
We'll save our village and our lives
We'll kill the Beast!”
7 October 2024
Was this review helpful to you?
Great ending though.
Was this review helpful to you?
A love letter to movies, never a dull moment. Very light hearted but hits when it needs to, a very easy movie to enjoy and its nice seeing another more lighthearted movie from Sono after well, everything else...
The acting was great all around but Shinichi Tsutsumi especially kills it, he is an actor I wish got more recognition in the West.
An easy and fun recommendation which devolves into a slightly unsatisfying and overly goofy bloodbath by the end, but I really love the final scene. The poster is very emblematic of the movie. Interesting ending as well.
Was this review helpful to you?
Despite its length, slow pace, and abundance of lingering shots and scenes, this movie is endlessly compelling. Not once through the three hour and twenty minute runtime did it ever feel boring or pointless, every scene had a purpose, and in that sense I would call this a perfect movie.
My appreciation for it kept on growing and growing as it went on, leading to a very thought provoking and haunting open ending.
A hidden gem, criminally underwatched, definitely something I will be thinking about for a long time.
Was this review helpful to you?
Legendary opening sequence, the whole movie was very well directed, good job @Sono, and CGI was used very well and seamlessly. The music was good if a bit repetitive at times, but it didn't detract from the movie. Packs so much into 85 minutes, the runtime flies by. Worth a watch if you are ok with Sono's craziness, sometimes gruesome imagery, and a really confusing story.
Was this review helpful to you?
Are you connected to yourself?
Less reliant on shock value than I was expecting, not as thought provoking as its prequel, focusing more on social commentary instead of the individual, some really good dialogue and an interesting mystery. Some really great parts, especially towards the end, and fantastic use of music. I feel like it comes close to approaching the topic almost too artistically for its own good, but I would say it is well executed.Was this review helpful to you?
The movie itself was very well made, I'd say from a moviemaking standpoint (not writing) it's Sono's most polished I've seen so far. The set design was fantastic, the movie was shot very beautifully at times with some really creative visual ideas and a lot of visual symbolism. The writing was also good, the plot and mystery unfurled very well, and by the end the reveals are satisfying yet still thought-provoking, although I had some gripes with how Yuji was written as it progressed. The non-linear narrative was handled well and never became convoluted. I really liked Masumi Miyazaki's performance at the end, reminded me of Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Shamoto in Cold Fish, which is one of my favourite performances.
This guy's thumbnail sums up my reaction to the movie: i.ytimg.com/vi/ycrneYdtqJ0/hqdefault.jpg
Was this review helpful to you?
Very well written dialogue both poetic and containing interesting and powerful social commentary, all enhancing the excellent worldbuilding. The movie does a great job at selling you on both the world and the characters, and you get sucked into their struggles and endeared to them very fast. It juggles various tones very well, switching from somber and melancholic to absurdly and darkly comedic or warm and homely without feeling trying or unearned. Keeps you engaged and I could never predict where it would go next. Great ending as well. Amazing soundtrack too, not quite as good as Lily Chou-Chou's but another amazing album, both when used in the movie and as standalone music.
Was this review helpful to you?
Senritsu Kaiki File Super Kowa Too! Fear Adventure: Kokkuri-san
0 people found this review helpful
For me, this is a perfect Senritsu Kaiki File! episode without the really wild stuff, but still plenty of craziness. Kudo was right, this already feels like a massive step up from the original and already great Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series, this really is Super. Funny, charming, endlessly enjoyable, even a bit scary near the start, but overall a really wild and batshit ride that captures the essence of what makes the series amazing.
This series is my favourite comfort movie series and this entry really fits that description. Very excited to see where this new arc goes.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Needed more Kudo. He was far too sidelined and all the best, most compelling, most interesting, and most entertaining parts of the Senritsu Kaiki series are focused on him (with the exception of Final Chapter).Has a lot of interesting implications for the lore, multiverse, and the series going forward, kinda mad they ended on such a cliffhanger though. I hope we don't have to wait another 8 years for the next episode. Didn't expect to be watching a giant floating fetus eating a rapist alive but here we are. Lacks the dread some of the earlier entries was able to instil and also isn't quite as batshit as some of the others, the next entry seems promising though. Some really good moments but I felt like I couldn't care about the new characters introduced as much as I could in previous episodes.
Love to see the gang back together though, all the actors and actresses killed it, awesome to see Kudo, Ichikawa, and Tashiro (I mean it's not like we exactly saw Tashiro) back together.
Was this review helpful to you?
Senritsu Kaiki File Super Kowa Too! Dark Mystery: Snake Woman
0 people found this review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi: Final Chapter
0 people found this review helpful
The End of Evangelion of found footage
Beautiful ending for a great series. Man this goes places.(Review written after watching the entire series):
This series is well and truly one of my favourite pieces of media ever and by far my favourite piece of horror media. Endlessly comforting, scary, ambitious, batshit crazy, endearing and likeable, disturbing, and infinitely intriguing. The universe Shiraishi-san has built is so complex and interesting it has been over a decade since it started and somehow it still becomes more intricate with every entry.
Jin Kudo is one of my favourite characters ever, partially thanks to the amazing performance by Shigeo Osako, but let's not forget the rest of the fantastic cast, Chika Kuboyama's Ichikawa and Shiraishi-san's Tashiro. It wouldn't be the same without any of them. Due to some circumstances that happened while making my way through this series, it is pretty personal to me as well, and solidified itself as my favourite piece of comfort media.
Thank you, Kudo-san. Thank you, Ichikawa-san. Thank you, Tashiro-san. Thank you, Shiraishi-san. You have created, in my eyes, a masterpiece, very close to my heart, and I will forever be grateful for it. Please release File 11 soon though, I don't want to wait too long.
Well...
It's over. But we will meet in a new world. This is just the beginning. We'll see you later. Thank you very much.
Was this review helpful to you?
