Reviews

the fox...

It was a long movie but I didn't loose any minute of it. For sure it was easier for me to understand than for my companion who does not watch any eastern productions. It was beautiful. So much attention to detail, so much action yet great photos, and awesome moments of the Fox demoness, się was my favourite character, the ending was suprisely like a cut of actikn for me, really unexpected though the scenes were completed and it was a closure, and you better sit still till the end of the lines on your seat as you might miss of more to come. I did not know before that this will be a trilogy. I enjoyed it a lot. It was refreshing.

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30/01/2024

Don't expect this to be full on action or anything other than a story being told with a specific point.

Why is it so easy for some to condemn others for not being so fortunate in life or to treat someone like a lepar because of being the child of a convicted murderer.

It is not okay for teachers to ignore classroom bullying or teens/adults to be so vindictive towards someone for being the daughter or son of a felon.

Furthermore, it is unacceptable not to protect someone being mentally, physically or sexually abused - hell no! Sometimes you need to approach adults that can be trusted or the police because there are some things in life that are way over one's head.

Of course, if no one can be objective or non-judgemental it makes it harder still.

SPOILER ALERT

The female teenage victim in this had no real support with very limited protection so was quite isolated and all alone despite the brief association with the male adolescent (newcomer) and family member at home.

The newcomer did try to be friends, did have a few fights on her behalf, but he let her down when she needed him the most. If he was capable of taking on the high school bullies - what was one adult male? And then to sit on that incident and not report anything plus the church scene. I get he was young and wasn't to blame, but him not turning up that day and then ignoring her alienated that poor girl even more and likely drove it home in her mind just how alone she really was in the world.

I have read a few other comments to do with her last scene where some believe she died whereas others went with her running away somewhere.

What do I think happened?

I reckon she went somewhere to die because of the despair she felt, no one having her back, the trauma and everything being so overwhelming. The only thing she could trust or hold onto that brought a bit of happiness into her dismal life was the black goat and it most definitely wouldn't have been enough to save her nor was it hers to keep.

This movie is worth a watch!

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How to write a review on a 3-minute short movie? Make it short as well and hopefully meet the MDL word requirement. She Brought Colour into My World pushed the boundaries of censorship with this story of love and friendship between two women.

A lovely young woman resides in a world of stony black and white. The new neighbor has just returned from studying abroad wearing an ethereal white dress. Dressed in beautiful clothes both traditional and Western, the two neighbors meet and have an instant rapport and the young woman's world is filled with color. The woman in white regales her with stories from outside the walls and gives her a gift. They explore the city, dance and hold hands. In 3 minutes a whole relationship blossoms free from censorship or at least for a while and a choice must be made. Stay in the world of color or return as before to cold stone.

I enjoyed this short film that pushed the boundaries with its open subtext and told how love can bring color into our lives and just as easily take it away.

29 January 2024

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Not quite there...

This one was suggested by a friend who is more into occidental movies. I had my fear as it looked more occidental than Korean. Director is canadian and yes, you can tell she's been living way longer in Canada than in Korea. So the movie is put toghether more like an american indie movie than a korean one.

Story had potential, but it has many gaps and silences that are considered to be aesthetic in western indie movies. The long silence scenes with dull scenery do not add to this equation. Not even the soundtrack. I respect some japanese movies where they do sort of the same, but theirs are poetry somehow.

There is only one meaninful scene between main characters but it takes less than 5 minutes. I actually fall sleep before that as the pace was really slooooow. Oscar nominations? I'm way over the pedo academy awards.

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No courage

this began quite well and promised positive development then after half way and the focus on the divorce settlement went completely down hill ruined by Nagisa's character： maybe the intention was to show his magnanimous character so everyone would live happily ever after、 actually for me it showed his real character as completely selfish and self indulgent not to say narcissistic、 that is if we look at the history of the story： first he abandons Shun then appears from the blue and with the child of his marriage ! expecting to be taken back years later〜this may just be credible if we assume Shun could not surrender his love but it says nothing good about Nagisa's character but、 then having settled Sora in a happy household we have the unbelievable denouement in the divorce court： the mother cannot give up her career gets drunk and Sora is picked up on a busy road maybe just avoiding accident it is exposed in the court but then Nagisa who all the first part of the movie shows as a deeply caring father apparently has a dramatic attack of remorse towards his wife based on having taken care of Sora without giving her a fair share in Sora's upbringing！ this is literally incredible nonsense of a story 、of course the reason for that situation was not his selfishness but hers wanting to pursue a career、 so his ：magnanimous： gesture giving up Sora is both stupid and selfish because he is not thinking of the vulnerable child but the ineffectual wife and maybe it's also self-hating if ーwhich the arguments in the court case heavily portrayed ーhe accepts the homophobic premise that a gay family is weird unconventional and will make it difficult for Sora to grow up。 sorry but if this was part of his motivation ー which I think if we think deeply about it the denouement　implies ーit is just an exercise in reinforcing discrimination when the movie could have shown a positive outcome of a happy family based on a gay relationship。 I cannot avoid the suspicion also that it suits Nagisa's selfish character very well to be relieved of the burden of looking after his child to indulge in a "straight gay" relationship [if I may underline with oxymoron]。as noted above the denouement is also based on the completely ridiculous idea his wife would undergo a transformation into a loving and caring mother when she realises Sora is doing badly in her first weeks back with her： completely unrealistic we are not told what happened about the career demands they have magically disappeared it seems with no idea how she will now support herself and her child、 this just does not happen in real life only saints undergo overnight character and personality changes。 in short the whole movie falls apart in a confusion of contradictions and unrealistic impossibilities when it had the chance to make a real contribution to showing a positive picture of a gay family overcoming social discrimination〜 why show acceptance of the relationship by the very conservative village people and then having their support break up the family?? it does not make sense unless lacking the courage to live and work out a happy life as a gay family as part of the society ー courage lacked by Nagisa because I note it was Shun having the courage to declare his love before the villagers but Nagisa who ultimately broke up their family。of course a more positive outcome does not mean taking Sora completely away from her mother but giving her the happiest safest background to grow up in、 but then given the selfish character of Nagisa as ultimately confirmed by the outcome perhaps he could not after all have done that、 but the turnaround completely contradicted the more positive first two thirds of the movie。 I do not know if the writer thought this was some clever artistic twist in the story but it was a complete failure of artistic touch as well as a sell-out reinforcing the homophobia LGBTQ people must still continue to fight against even in western society and still more in Japanese。

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The movie that started it all, and still stands strong today.

Godzilla (1954) is not just an important movie for pop culture, but also one that delivers a strong message that still resonates with audiences today.

The history and inspiration for this film and its creature creation are fascinating. This movie was released barely ten years after the events of the Second World War, and offers commentary on a post-war Japan which is still left with the after-effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The now iconic monster Godzilla was intended as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, and in this 1954 movie we see him as a force of nature fighting back against the humans which disturbed the natural order of things during their war.

Godzilla (1954) poses many questions to its viewer, both to an audience in the 50's and to one today. We have characters that wish to see nothing but the destruction of this creature, as it threatens and destroys everything they know. Some characters wish it no harm and want to study it, amazed by both its ability to survive and adapt to nuclear attack and also the fact that it even exists at all. There are characters who create weapons that rival the power of an H Bomb, and are posed with the decision of hiding such research away out of fear for what it falling into the wrong hands will do, or using it to save Japan and, potentially, the world.

The film from a production point of view is a product of its time, yet a strong one. For one it is entirely in black and white, which may already put some viewers off if they're not used to this. But considering the technology of the 50's I'd have to say the set, prop and costume design are strong. Scenes where Godzilla destroys the city hold up well, and the miniatures and costuming of the creature are perhaps still some of the best in those Godzilla movies that use practical effects. I'd say the lack of colour also adds to this, and acts as an aid to the movie's overall tone and mood.

All in all, Godzilla (1954) is one of - if not the - essential movie to watch for any Godzilla fan. After all, if it wasn't for this masterpiece of cinema, we wouldn't have equally as wonderful movies that follow in its predecessors' footsteps - such as Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's 2016 Shin Godzilla, or Takashi Yamazaki's more recent 2023 stand-out entry to the franchise, Godzilla Minus One.

*Additional note for any who read this review and are interested in watching Godzilla (1954) because of it, please be aware that the 1956 American and International versions of this film were heavily edited and cut, including scenes with Canadian Actor Raymond Burr, and retitled Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Until 2004, this was the only version of the movie that existed internationally outside of Japan in any official capacity. Do check which version you have before watching, as much is lost in the Americanization compared to the original version of the movie.

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For lovers of the manga/anime a 10 and a must watch for the whole live action series, for those new to the story they may find this confusing and disjointed . .

(Rurouni Kenshin is one of my favorite mangas.)

A faithful, thrilling rendition of the best scenes of the manga/anime, this string of moments is awe inspiring to watch. The strong themes on life after trauma - paired with thrilling action, compelling romance, and beautiful visuals is hard to beat.

If I had one nitpick, the manga is written by a man, but the story has fully developed women characters and themes, separate and apart from the 'villain of the week.' Yet here, the women become side characters, and strangely, the villains have lots of screen time. There was no need to overload the drama with these disturbing scenes, given the series already struggles to honor the large number of characters included in the manga.

Watching the live action Kenshin reconcile his past, and take a step into a better future with Kaoru and our gang showing him the way, is a rewarding, touching, even sublime experience. When I ended this series, I was incredibly sad to say goodbye to this universe.

It's the greatest compliment I can give when I say I wish there was more . . .

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instant cry

It's a typical father and daughter story but I loved how they deliver it so well. Nice storyline the comedic side is also present. They father and daughter bonding is immeasurable that nothing can fall them apart. He will do anything to make her daughter happy even though the plot twist is that it's not his biological daughter as what the DN a says he still claims and treat her as his own.
You will cry in this movie because it's very emotional and heartwarming, you will be touched with the strong bond that they had towards each other.
The girl who plays Mira is a good actress because she did well in making me cry, dalang-dala nya ako.
ALERT: Get ready with your tissues.

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It was nice i guess, but it could've been better

When I watched this, I thought I watched the wrong movie and baited me because it started off with a mild horror scene, and you know that white lady look in an old horror film where the iris of the eyes is like a small black dot, I find that in today's standard a very generic look, It's a good jumpscare, but it doesn't feel scary to me at all... I didn't know that scene was just used to set up the characters that we're gonna follow.

The story is really heartwarming, it's about a cold-hearted girl discovering the warmth feeling and being in love for the first time, and pretty much so it was done very well, but there are some parts in the movie that I felt like it would've impacted well if they built it up properly because there are some things that just happened out of nowhere to make things happen and some things that were left unexplained or they've never expanded on it properly.

The CGI in this film is not perfect, it's a B-grade film so I tried to be open-minded about it and kudos to the editing department because it was used cleverly, around the middle of the film though, it looked like they kinda gave up because the green screen editing became really obvious and not clean, but it's only that portion. The Fighting choreography in this film is really good, it looked like that aspect got a big budget. The sets are really good looking especially the Underworld, it kinda looks familiar as well... was that the same set in the later bit part in 'The Longest Promise'???

The characters, since they can be counted with 2 hands, no one was wasted or maybe there are some because 2 of them for me were pretty much passive, the last character that they introduced/added was done really fast, they've hinted it once, but it was soo minor that I doubt you would expect it. ML and FL's dynamic is cute and has nice chemistry as well. ML wasn't really explored that much so I hardly got attached to him, the way he fell in love with FL wasn't really built up, so it kinda looked like an asspull and they pulled a fast one on that plot twist about the two at the end. FL is really cute tho, i like her acting... that's it. I watched this mainly because of Wang Xing Chen and she's pretty as always, knowing how hot she is, i noticed that the directors really like her body assets huh? because in every media that she's in, she would always be introduced in a perverted way, so i kinda feel bad to her about it.

Notice how i gave the music a very low score because, i watched this on iQIYI's youtube channel and the audio sucked ass, every now and then it would sound muffled like you're under the water, and then would return to normal.

Overall it was a nice fantasy/action/romance, i came out not thinking like I wasted my time, I would say I had a bit of a pleasant time watching the movie, but I probably wouldn't go back and watch it again.

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Really cute movie

I really enjoyed watching it is kind of predictable but it is worth watching. I kind of cried watching it but of happiness. I really really recommend watching it! My favorite Japanese movie so far ! (☆_☆) 。 *･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:* ･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･ *:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･* (☆_☆)(◐‿◑) ^_^. Y(^_^)Y. *^o^*（＾ω＾）^_^ (*☻-☻*) yay yay yay yay really nice movie it has comedy and is really rush of emotions all combined together!!!! Watch it if you can the main leads are really cute! I kind of related with both main leads so it was even more interesting watching the movie ! ! ! ! !

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BL Movie with an interesting intention but too short to really captivate me

This very short film (only 28 minutes) is mostly a slice-of-life within a Taiwanese family with siblings who reunites for their mother's birthday. The story is centred around one main question: will the gay son comes clean to his mom ? Given the short duration, there is not a lot of content but the film does a good job setting up the stakes for the various characters.

In terms of casting, I feel that the actress playing the mother did the best job in interpreting with nuances her role. You feel her stress and care for her family. I was slightly less convinced by the actor playing her son, I felt the chemistry was a bit lacking in his couple. Still, he manages to be very real in displaying the emotions and hesitations of his character.

The film felt very indie: there are clearly on a budget but the decors and filmmaking was totally suitable for a proper storytelling. The ending song was nice but not memorable.

I would recommend this to people looking for a short BL indie movie. The question approached by the story feel very real and the way it is discussed makes sense. I did not find it very captivating as it was too short to feel connected with the characters. It is of course a very personnal opinion as I think it could really touch the heart of some other viewer. As it is very short, give it a shot ! I enjoyed learning about what Komorebi means.

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Some scenes were so touching , some scenes were so flat :( I really am confused with this one

Hase yuuki was such a lovely boy who is an absolute imaginer. you could feel the excitement he has and the kind heart he has there, he is also a boy who respect people's feelings , even if that means the girl she loved likes someone else. he is sincere and cute.

our girlie was on the other hand , I felt like we knew almost nothing about her personality... I couldnt figure out her personality at all , I didnt understand her feelings too. I get it was because of her condition , but she was too cold to me. I knew she treasured yuuki and was a good person overall but other than these I feel like we absolutely know nothing about her. I kinda loved the second more more , she was always taking care of yuuki and showing affection to everyone , had some personality going on in front of us.

it sadly felt like it was only male lead loving the girl again. the ending was just too open to me even tho it probably wasnt made to be an open ending.

did she completely remember him? or is that just traces of her memories? does she love him in that way? what was gonna be her response when she was gonna meet koju back then? did she liked koju? is she again gonna forget everything after that? I had so many questions left with no answers at all.

yet , it was a smooth watch for me even tho it got a little dragged towards the middle . it was enjoyable to watch overall ,not boring.

ESPECIALLY. that scene where FML found the book yuuki doodled and recalled their memories ALMOST made me tear up because it felt so nice and cute yet heartbreaking :( it really was a special scene and probably the best thing about this movie.

I think it was a bit of a waste of potential. I felt like they could give us a second couple like ML's best friend and 2nd female lead or kujo and second femal lead. non lead characters were loveable to me , i thought they could have been given more screentime. and they should just give us some information after that sudden ending scene and just answer my questions like that. maybe with a future cut kinda thing.

it was watchable tho. dont get your expectations so high ,but its still enjoyable. cant say the ending didnt make me pissed a bit (a lot actually)

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BADASS ACTION, ACTION, ACTION

The story is quite simple with no twist and turns. U can predict the story but, if u love full on action then its your cup of tea. Some of the scenes are quite brutal but, i love it wholeheartedly. Visual effects and quality are top notch. BGM is good. Acting wise all done a amazing job. Ma Dong Seok action is no dojbt outstanding. Lee Jun young performance is amazing and his bromance and acfion with Ma Dong seok is perfect. Roh Jeong eul done a good job in her role. The antagonist Lee Hee Joon done a crazy job in the mad scientist role. Ahn ji Hye done a quite a action with Dong seok and jun young which was great. Kudos to all the supporting artist who done a fabulous job in the movie.
I don't know why the ratings are low but i recommend it you are willing to watch a topnotch bloody badass action movie.

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REAL TALK

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 9.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ, ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ]

FINALLY got to watch this. China has had this movie on lockdown like it's some kind of national treasure. Yeesh.

Anyway, Real Talk, this is a legitimately entertaining movie to watch.
The beginning was a little rushed to get characters introduced, and it was about as predictable as one expects an underdog movie plot to be. Some dance moves were also exaggerated for cinematic flare, BUT those minor things did not take away from it being an entertaining movie.

It was well acted and fun and funny and emotional and heartfelt. I liked the cast and characters, and I don't just mean all of the familiar dancers, I mean his mother, uncle, love interest and various coworkers. All of them were likeable. I also like Jiang Long (I saw him for the first time in Luoyang and then briefly in Under The Skin) and I considered watching The Future Handbook, but it's unsubbed. It was nice to see him here, he's a very emotive actor. I would watch him more if he's cast in shows that appeal to my taste.

On a fan note, about Wang Yibo, imo, this movie is the best thing he has done since TU. I've watched the stuff he's done from before and after TU, and aside from Hidden Blade (which was good), the shows and films he's done have been very MEH. Just grazing above an average level of enjoyment and in some cases not even making it. One and Only was engaging and it held my attention to the point where I rewatched a few scenes and laughed a lot.

I would recc this. Not just for dance fans, but also for people who like a plain and simple underdog story.

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