Potential but feels like the male gaze
I feel like there was potential for this to be really good — if it had treated Stella more like a main character and less like a love interest. I actually really liked how the story went at the end, and themes of courage and timing would've been so much more powerful.Instead, with the entire movie being from Fidel's perspective, it felt like a movie filmed from the Nice Guy's perspective, with Stella and her bad decisions villainized, like she was somehow wrong for not choosing him.
Was this review helpful to you?
Kind-of boring
Every once in a while I come across a "classic" that I just can't bring myself to like. "In the Realm of the Senses" comes to mind since it's also a classic Japanese film. However, while that one made me very uncomfortable, "Woman in the Dunes" just kinda bored me. I can appreciate the story, the acting, the message, etc. But, at the end of the day, it put me to sleep literally."Woman in the Dunes" follows Niki Junpei (played by Okada Eiji), a substitute teacher and bug enthusiast, who comes to a remote village surrounded by sand. The villagers trap Junpei with a recently widowed woman (Kishida Kyoko). Every night, the woman shovels sand and the villagers take it away. Junpei tries in vain to escape the sand pit throughout the movie. An obvious allegory to Sisyphus.
Like I said, I can appreciate this plot. I felt that it did its job as it made me feel anxious and claustrophobic. But still, I fell asleep and I practically couldn't wait for it to end. To conclude, I didn't like it but I see it's artistic merit.
Was this review helpful to you?
I have mixed feelings towards the movie, in comparison to the show.
I DID enjoy it, don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, the acting is great, and it carries on with the spirit of the show and the essence of what made it great: the cozy-ness, the amazing cooking, the genuine portrayal of a relationship of two men in their 40s in a country that doesn't recognize their partnership legally, the navigating said relationship with family, workplace and society as a whole.
The movie does add a bit more on the personal feelings of both characters, with a situation that generates a parallel for both in different points of the movie.
And when I say "a bit" I mean...a tiny bit. I am disappointed in the fact that I don't think they took it far enough for a movie.
It felt like a long episode of the show and, to be honest, when you have the opportunity of a movie, I think your storytelling possibilities expand in other directions that I don't feel they took. Ossan's Love, for example, isn't as good as this show when it comes to taking things seriously (and the acting isn't as good as this, in general), but they did use their movie to give a step forward that allowed them to pull off a better season 2.
I feel like they didn't go as far as they could have with the movie, in terms of using the vehicle to give a much deeper glimpse into one of their conflicts, picking just one to explore and going all for it. The movie has a sort of array of situations that get developed somewhat, rather than one that can get fully expanded.
I say this also because, since watching season one, I was able to read some of the manga and I feel like the manga gets more intimate with Kenji's and Shiro's relationship in some levels that we don't get in live action form. And, when I say "intimate", I mean communication wise, not necessarily just physically. I feel like there's a lot of deep emotional exploration that gets somewhat cut short by the fact that they move on to the next issue before delving deeper into the prior one, and the movie format could have allowed them to have the space that a series format may not allow for them to do just that.
All in all, it's a lovely movie and I'm happy to see more of this show coming out. I have high hopes for the second season that I've already started. I just wish the movie could have given a step forward in development, but I don't think this was quite that.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
" Ignite the thrilling essence of female power in an action-packed adventure! "
In this FL 's as lead role is very nice and her character is badass too. We need more female badass cop roles for our FL's, it will be refreshing to do with them. Coming to story, it is very simple story with few twists and it is one time watchable. It was streaming on Netflix so i had watched it after seeing their many thriller series from Taiwanese their are giving tough competition to korean series in future for sure. If you love watch thriller movies, then you can give it a try ! Unlike victim's game(Taiwanese series) it is not that much interesting, i have to say that it is not up to rank to other Taiwanese thrillers series in my view. After watching my name series, i thought to give a try to watch it how our FL did it. In this movie, everyone done nice job and acting too. There is only a bit confusion of heroine's husband who killed himself in the FL's car itself. I can't understand that part alone why did he died/ suicide by himself? Rest , it is one time watchable movie.Was this review helpful to you?
Horror never found…
It’s for sure more of an action fantasy with just some elements of horror. Truth to be told, it had more comedy than horror and I’m not mad about it.It was an entertaining and light watch. A lot of jokes were basic, but they landed well. Simple plot works well with simple writing and good visuals, and that’s exactly what this movie delivers.
Timing for some revelations was a bit questionable, like when we find out what is the actual goal of the main villain. Or what is the importance of each and every character. Still, the pacing is great and the pay off is decent.
Honestly speaking, the production value was for sure the best aspect of the show. Great special effects, great set design, beautiful lighting and use of colors and filters. Stunning for many scenes, screenshots worthy.
For the acting, no complaints, but the roles were not that demanding anyway.
Overall, fun and simple sometimes is the best combination. Not everything has to be a complex philosophical tale with double meanings, sometimes a movie has to be just an entertainment.
Was this review helpful to you?
a girl can fight too
This movie is superb, full packed with action scenes. This Filipino action revenge movie is one of a kind. I am amazed by Christina Reyes who plays Lily/Maria she really trained so much in this film, you can see how well she did in her fight scenes, that she delivered it well.The story is common but they give justice on the film came across that touches our hearts. We can feel Maria's pain when she loss her family that is why she is eager to give them revenge that they deserve.
I am not that satisfied with its ending I feel like there's a part two. Filipino action movies are improving. I can say that its the female version of John Wick.
Was this review helpful to you?
Action packed movie
Plus point that surpasses many factors.... It's a Jackie Chan movie!! It's filled with action packed with a mixture of comedy (like all Jackie Chan movies). The additional parts would be that Yang Yang and a few other named people are within.Overall, I find this movie great and also funny at certain moments, filled with action and especially love movies that have a mixture of variety of languages within - along with the English subtitles for better understanding of the other languages. Personally, I feel that we should have more of these mixture of variety of languages and places in a movie. It was feeling quite strange - for me - to hear Jackie Chan conversing in Mandarin though as I have always only watched all of his movies in Cantonese. But still enjoyed the movie nonetheless. The entire casts also did a good job bringing the movie to life. It definitely is something I would watch again, but only because I really enjoyed the movie. There were various reviews commenting about CGIs in the movie, but oh come on.... CGIs have LONG EXISTED in many other movies, so why the heck are you complaining and whining about some CGI hyenas / animals?! Better a CGI of an animal than having a real animal and then some wanky animal activists wailing about animal abuse just for entertainment purposes!
Was this review helpful to you?
Yeah what will happen next?
Pick a random movie available on YT just to fill the time. Unfortunately it's a little bit dissapointing.Really hope they continue a little bit more before closing the curtain. Maybe like just let Azusa Oribe & Takashi Hayama come face to face. That's gonna push the score a little bit better in my book.
What I like about this movie is unfortunately only one: Interesting concept of story. But... This also end with bad execution. Or maybe just not my taste.
Overall this only end up as another movie on my list. And...
Below is SPOILER ALERT!!! Read it with ur own risk.
==================================================
SPOILER ALERT!!!
==================================================
What I don't like:
- The open ending. I really don't like the ending. I really hope they either end up Takashi Hayama just totally forget about Azusa Oribe, or like i said in the beginning, they meet face to face in the final scene.
- They never really explained to us about why everyone keep forgetting about Azusa Oribe
Was this review helpful to you?
A Good Popcorn Movie
Indeed, this is a visually stunning movie that is certainly entertaining. With a big bag of popcorn (or snack of your choice) and a relaxing chair, you will thoroughly enjoy this movie. Filled with handsome men, a relatively interesting but a bit slow-plodding plot at times, elegant chorography, breathtaking cinematography, and beautiful costumes, you are in for a treat. Is it memorable? Well, no, not really, but it sure is fun to watch. The plot is manifestly implausible, slow in the middle, yet it worked in the end as entertainment. The ending is to be expected. There are no hidden meanings, and the story does not go deep. To coin a trite phrase, admittedly, it is what it is. Do not read more into it. This is a beautiful, compelling, and colorful story. The costumes, choreography, cinematography, and set designs are all exquisite. So, grab some popcorn or your favorite snack and watch this very enchanting movie and then go to bed. It is that kind of movie. Fun but forgettable.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
must watch
let's start by the cast, they could not have picked a better cast. their chemistry was just wonderful. they did so well. i felt so many things while watching the movie and the first ceremony scene gave me chills all over... so so good! i love how the had comedy (dark humor) all over, for example when mr. almost died and he said he was ready to go but then he thought oh my daughter's marriage. i was tearing up and that just cracked me up hahaha. every character did such an amazing job, and of course... kim goeun and lee dohyun never dissapoint. the ending was good but made wonder if there will be a sequel because of their unfinished business (their flashbacks etc.) either way, im satisfied with it. please, go and watch it if you have time and if your city is playing it. i feel like a movie theater experience will be even better.Was this review helpful to you?
Smuggling is not for everybody
Another one of those Korean films that is impossible to place in a specific genre. The atmosphere is a comedy, and the plot is a thriller, with elements of action, drama, and adventure. The film is at times casual and relaxed, and at times bloody brutal, as if I am watching two movies at the same time. In my opinion, the comedic elements are misused and prevent the viewer from enjoying the seriousness, tension and twists in the plot. The plot has a lot of twists and turns and thus constantly makes the movie more and more interesting.The actors are very good and special praise and respect should be given to the female actors and stuntmen who spent a large part of the film diving underwater.
I also really like the choice of music. At times, the musical numbers seem forced as if they were selected on a jukebox, but I'll forgive that because I like the style of the music and even wish there was more of it. Actually, now after the movie I'm going to listen to some Korean trot and evergreens from the golden seventies.
And yes, one spoiler, at the end I even noticed some dolphins 😊
Was this review helpful to you?
Sgt. Chan Ga Kui is part of a sting operation on drug cartels having a meeting in a shanty town. They are particularly after Boss Koo and his gang. After destroying most of the squatters’ village, and a spectacular rundown of an escaping bus, Chan slaps the cuffs on Koo and becomes a local hero and is used for recruitment. Superintendent Li decides to use Koo’s secretary, Salina Fong, as a witness, which puts her life in jeopardy. Chan is ordered to be her bodyguard. From then on, the case and Chan’s life take a turn for the worse.
I enjoyed the first third of this film and the last third. The middle third dragged badly for me. There was a long “comedic” scene with his girlfriend. A painfully bad trial scene. And then another comedic scene where a woman who had been raped and a woman who was being beaten by her husband were completely ignored during a phone gag. I also had to remind myself that the beautiful and talented Maggie Cheung was paying her dues in the thankless, idiotic girlfriend role.
The stunts were phenomenal for the time. The umbrella and bus stunt, numerous fights involving sugar glass, and the final stunt with Chan in a mall sliding down a tall pole surrounded by draping lights were leaps and bounds beyond the status quo in 1985. They were also inherently dangerous. Chan was injured twice during filming. Brigitte Lin even stepped up and was thrown through a table and also a plate glass window. Few movies unless they were filmed in a glass factory would have more people shattering glass with their bodies. Proof also that movie glass is magical as no characters were badly cut despite all the bodies bouncing off the huge panes and shattered pieces of translucent blades.
Police Story broke new ground for fighting and action stunts even though the story did not. Chan’s athleticism and flexibility was a thing of wonder. My rating is based on the astonishing stunts at the beginning and ending of the film and also on my pre-1990’s grading curve.
25 March 2024
Was this review helpful to you?
Brief and deep analysis of oppressed sexual minorities
Is it worth sacrificing the person you love and yourself to accept a lie? Can you be happy and make the woman you married happy, forced by family and society, since you have to hide your homosexuality? Can one decide who to love in a conservative society that considers romantic relationships between people of the same gender illegal and taboo?'Life of Silence'(The Life of Silence, Xi Sheng Zhi Lu - 犧牲之旅), Taiwanese director and screenwriter Ying Cheng-Ru's 2014 short film, explores sexuality through the story of three gay men entangled in two marriages doomed to failure.
At just over 26 minutes, the compelling and heartbreaking film explores the tensions between society's expectations and true happiness.
In the director's own words, silence usually comes with a backdrop, waiting to be shaken. A fiction and a reality. Three gay men and two marriages. When love and marriage cannot go hand in hand, how can marital happiness be achieved?
Interested in addressing social issues and sexuality, the filmmaker, with a master's degree in Fine Arts from the Department of Radio, Television and Film at Shih-Hsin University, brings us in this romantic drama a fiction woven into reality.
When there is a contradiction between erotic life and parental expectations, a difficult decision would have to be made. To rethink marriage, 'Life of Silence', a sequel to 'Body at Large', looks at oppressed sexual minorities. What is the Happy Family? Is there only one way to achieve happiness? Or should one be able to hug oneself freely?
The short film aims to show that human beings deserve happiness without barriers.
I recommend paying attention to the meaning of water, present throughout much of the footage, as a metaphor for the purgatory of an unfulfilled love, as well as the old man washing his long white hair in the final scene. This older man, whose face cannot even be seen, represents the spirit of previous generations who were never allowed to love and who died alone.
As the director himself expressed: "The old man is another reason to inspire me to film this film. He was born at a conservative age, sexually repressed, he did not have sexual relations for life, I left him as a reflection of the actor, if love is repressed, and is finally left alone and desolate.
The lead roles fall to Jason Lai as Chen Kai Cheng, Hsueh Yu Ting as Chin Yung Sheng, Lu Yi Ching, Chiu Min Chia and Liau You Ching
With touching and at the same time nostalgic background music, it manages to validate the characters' feelings of loneliness and melancholy.
With the use of a dark color palette, especially blue and ocher, and mostly black and white images seeking cinematic perfection to emphasize the contrast between light and shadows, and surprising professionalism in the use of lighting, 'Life of Silence' conveys the suffocating, overwhelming atmosphere, and an atmosphere of sadness, melancholy and tension.
Was this review helpful to you?
This movie is underrated it deserves 10/10
The story is great, although it will make you cry.the ending is so satisfying.
The acting is perfect.
The actors are also great and fit the roles.
I wish I could lose my memory and watch it again.
At some point I thought the ending would be really bad, but they fixed everything in the end, I thank the writer that he did not make me cry for the coming days.
loved it loved loved it
I recemand you to watch it, you will not regret it.
...............................................................
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
One Where Amnesia is the Main Character
With all the Korean movies floating around on the internet, this one was a hilarious ride to be on. Relying heavyly on the comedy aspect, this romCOMEDY would have you laughing out loud at multiple scenes while also, looking forward as the couple approaches the (D-)Divorce Day. Here's an overview of my thoughts:1. Plot (7/10)- A kind of generic plot and yet, executed in a manner that leaves you laughing and taking screen recordings?? Yup, this one's got the memo. Perfect for a guilty pleasure watch, this movie would have you recommending it to your friends as well.
2. Cinematography (7.5/10)- With a beam of colourful backgrounds, the movie flashes back and forth through timelines to cast the viewers on the updates of the couple's lives.
3. Music (8.5/10)- The songs flashing throughout the movie were wonderfully recorded and executed, with some making the viewers giggle while the others evoking a sense of romance.
Most Memorable Scenes: With having just completed the movie, here are my top three most memorable scenes from the movie:
1. The (most HILARIOUS) accident that inevitably leads to the amnesia wherein the couple loose their memories of each other (as well as all the people around them).
2. The confession made by the male lead towards the end of the movie (but oh wait, the female lead didn't hear anything though because she was waring noise cancelling earbuds).
3. Their first date as a couple who have now lost their memories.
The Beauty of “Love Reset”: Well, the beauty of "Love Reset" lies in it's portrayal of how we should not let the bad memories overpower the happy ones. The movie shows how, sometimes, giving something a second chance can also turn out to be beautiful.
You'll Enjoy This If...: If you enjoy movies that have a sense of lightheartedness and would be perfect for a romCOMEDY watch-party with your friends, "Love Reset" has got your back!
xx
Was this review helpful to you?
