Reviews

IS IT WRONG THAT ALL THIS HEALS MY INNER CHILD?

I love a good story...who doesn't? Throw in bullies getting what they deserve and I'm in.

As someone who was bullied throughout my childhood, this was therapeutic...something in me was at peace watching that POS taking those kicks and punches.

Seriously try watching it...if you're stuck being timid or weak at work or school to keep your job or just in general, WATCH THIS!!! You want to yell at your boss because they're being evil little shits but you can't cause you need the job? WATCH THIS!!!!

You'll heal things you didn't know you had.

I want part 2 already; with another culprit getting it. She's like the clean-up crew fr.

Shin Hye Sun delivered and then some, she's becoming my favourite actress with all her amazing work. I especially loved the braided look.
Lee Jun Yung was also exemplary...I mean we hate him but I'm going to look for more of his work cause his acting is amazing....plus he looks good being all evil and shit.
The supporting characters...esp the victim did a good job too, you could be immersed in their emotions while watching.
All in all, this was an awesome movie...totally worth the hype.

NOTE TO SELF; Korean youths are terrifying, every time I see a bullying scene in a KDrama or KMovie...I want to crawl up and disappear.

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Subtle representation

All of us love to suddenly go back to our roots in the midst of the busy life of the city, to live a simple rural life beyond the barriers of modernity. This movie represents exactly that. There is no forced laughter, no exaggerated emotions; only a purity. Such a refreshing watch. Simple story yet so meaningful. And the scenics of rural beauty definitely reminds us our childhood. My most favourite parts are the reciepes and food, it made me crave for all the foods! All in all, this movie is perfect for chilling out and spending some alone time to refresh your mind and eyes!

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Amazing Action + Thought provoking

Damn This was a Rollercoster ride. The MC was not good at saying his own thoughts and take inspiration from fictions like Bruce Lee movies and improve himeself. I was like this and probably still am lulz. But MC and his extrovert friend both liked the same shy girl but his friend took action while he didn't.
And then with father's frustation and being looked down he eventually bursts like a volcano, making a scene in School. He again met the girl but as usual it didn't go as he wanted. The lost oppurtunities and lost battles, that's what happened once in a high school.

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We are faced with a filmic gem:
Song Young Jun, 30 (Song Jae Ha) and Seo Joon Suk, 23 (Jo Hye Hoon) are a very happy gay couple despite living their love in secret. Both actors, who play their roles perfectly, are not afraid to show their naked torsos during the 65 minutes of the film and have explicit sex scenes, all achieved in an artistic way.
The young people decide to create a memory they never had in celebrating their 5th anniversary. They rent a room in a motel in Jongno (Seoul's popular gay neighborhood) to record their precious memory on a video camera.
Between a celebration cake, confidences, naked baths, sex and complicities, all in front of the camera in which they record themselves, the room is filled with the memories that unite them, like the day on the beach to which they promise. go back. Likewise, they vow to never change their love for each other.
However, there is a feeling in the air that today is going to be their last day.
On the one hand, the excellent performances, the control of the body and voice of the two actors to interpret the emotions, the direction, script and other technical elements of the film and, on the other, the viewer's refusal to accept the obvious, but All the signs of what will happen are cleverly shown: Joon Suk is reluctant to allow himself to be filmed from the first scene, the bathroom scene. He claims to be nervous, then worries that the video could be taken as pornography. Only your boyfriend's insistence will lead him to agree to participate in everything that will happen inside the room.
As Young Jun prepares to leave, Joon Suk is awake, but he pretends to sleep and doesn't want to say goodbye. It is evident that he knew in advance that the relationship would end, and of the existence of a prior agreement between the two that it would end in this way.
Young Jun will also ask “When did you hate me the most?”, to which Joon Suk will respond: “When you tell me 'we don't have a future', 'we should marry women' or 'the gay community in Korea hasn't changed'.” Young Jun will also confess that “there is a fantastic recording ready for you,” referring to the recorded video that he leaves for her to watch after he leaves.
In my opinion, not knowing how to appreciate the true emotions and feelings that the characters convey is the reason for the negative reviews and low ratings. The characters themselves, very subtly, are responsible for answering the reason why the film does not have an ending like the one we would like. The film makes a very intelligent, very subtle criticism of the discrimination that exists in South Korea against members of the LGBT+ community.
South Korea is a conservative country, with strong patriarchal and heteronormative traditions, where homosexuals have difficulty fitting into society. Coming out is still not welcomed in most conservative Korean families, who consider their children's homosexuality as something close to a crime.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Korea face legal challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT+ South Koreans. Same-sex sexual activity is legal, but Gay Marriage, Equal Marriage or Same-sex Marriage or other forms of legal partnership are not available to same-sex couples.
It's true: we would like a happy ending for the two young people, but reality prevailed. Young Jun leaves an envelope on the nightstand containing an invitation to his wedding to a woman. His destiny is decided by his family. Your destiny is determined by society. He doesn't have the strength to fight this and accepts not being happy and also making his boyfriend unhappy.
An ending, which would only be syrupy, melodramatic and unrealistic, perhaps bordering on the worst film productions, would have been for Young Jun to have rebelled against his family and society and not have abandoned his boyfriend. For a moment, before the end credits, I thought that they were not a couple, that Joon Suk was a prostitute (because of the envelope on the table I even speculated that it could be money) and they both pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend for some reason. A happy ending, in this case, could be that the connection created between the two turns them into a couple. Young Jun would return to the room to confess to loving him and Joon Suk would claim that he also developed feelings for him during the hours they shared in the motel room.

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honestly..

the anime is top tier. this was kinda mediocre because the plot & story line was so rushed. there are so many rave reviews, maybe if I hadnt loved the anime so much I would’ve enjoyed this more.

I wanted to see so much more of the plot, character, and romance development. Even though I have seen the anime, I found myself briefly confused with the jumping around.

Really wasn’t bad, just not up to my expectations. could have done way better.

I felt like they were trying to portray the entire anime when instead there could have been one major climax and not several rushed together.

acting was great, settings on point, “animation”/ graphics great. just the storyline was rushed & jumbled. wasn’t a smooth tell.

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It'll wreck you

I kept getting recommended this movie so I finally sat down and watched it. Now, I don't often give media full marks but holy shiiiiit this was so good.

Zombies:
I'm not really a huge fan of zombie shows or zombie movies. The way they implemented the zombies in this movie though... Definitely worth the watch. The way they used tricks with light and sound to maneuver past the zombies was so well coordinated. Add in the creepiness of these zombies running, climbing, and clamoring across each other for their next bite... well yeah it's definitely nightmare fuel.

Humans:
As always, the human aspect is often more terrifying than the zombies. You know what to expect with zombies. You never know when a human will decide to turn on you. The main group finding ways to push forward together, even with tension between them and a different group. The way the father fought to protect his daughter. The way the husband fought to protect his wife. The teenage friends. The elderly sisters. So many good scenes between characters. Some that are inspiring. Some that will absolutely wreck you. Some that will make you want to rage quit but keep watching because it is 100% worth it all just to reach the ending.

Movie:
I cannot stress enough that this movie is absolutely worth watching all the way through. You HAVE to get to the end. The payoff at the end is beautiful!

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Heartbreaking

This short film builds as it goes on. It starts with the main character having a panic attack while attempting to be intimidate with his girlfriend. He’s just as confused as we are, it seems.

What, exactly, is going on at home can only be speculated about Given the short format of the film, we don’t get a lot of exposition there. I’ve seen some speculate that the father has made self pleasure forbidden and the shower scene was about ensuring the main character wasn’t pleasuring himself. I’ve seen some speculation about whether or not he had developed “normally” and the father checking the status of his genital development.

I’m not entirely sure why, but while watching the film I wondered if our main character was intersex. There is an enormously diverse range of physical development possibilities among intersex people. Something about the way the father shakes his head in the bathroom scene, like he’s disappointed, and the way the boy doesn’t even want to look at his own nude body in the mirror made me think perhaps this was the case.

Regardless of whether the main character has sexually developed in a way we expect a cis boy to or whether the father was a zealot about abstaining from masturbation, what is unarguable is that the father is abusive. You do not need to touch or penetrate an individual for it to be sexual abuse. The obvious trauma (he clearly has PTSD, experiencing flashbacks to his father’s behavior) reinforces that his has been enduring sexual (and I’d guess emotional) abuse from his father. Moreso his mother’s (? I’m not sure if she’s his mother or older sister) reaction indicates she knows exactly what is going on and implies it had been going on for some time.

The dynamic between our main character and the naked boy on the roof is the one bright spot in the snippet of this boy’s life we see. It is so quickly easy, playful and comfortable between them. However, when another panic attack strikes and our boy even apologizes for it he is never shamed or belittled for his reaction. He is held. He is comforted. He’s told it’s okay. He is hugged. (That head kiss was the sweetest thing.) It is so sweet to watch but so utterly heartbreaking to see him go through that.

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Song Kang has come a long way

Song Kang was in My Demon recently, so I thought I would check out some of his other masterpieces. I chuckled and laughed during this movie. It's quaint. I think m it could have had much more depth and potential if the writing and directing was better. It was extremely low budget, which can be a plus, to let acting shine through. He may have only been 22 or 23 when this was filmed. He was very good in the kissing scenes, and when he was lamenting about being an outcast in his life, relating to her predicament. He has improved greatly since in the 6 years he has neen acting. It's just fun to see the changes. His intermittent English was pretty good as well, endearing us to him even more.

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A Potentially Problematic Tale

Why do I feel like Eun Ji was inspired by Mathilda from Leon?

This is a drama about the intellectually handicapped man wrongly accused of s=xual assault of the little girl he was friends with, and the consequences that come with the societal shame that ruins his life and cuts the ties with the people who communicated with him before. It's definitely on the tear-jerker side as it's supposed to show how certain people are defenseless in front of the world if there is no one ready to help. But, honestly, if there was no evidence proving Seok Gu's innocence, how else would you expect the society to react?

🔸The final shot with Seok Gu looking into the camera and breaking the 4th wall should've never happened. For the ending to be more tear-jerking, it would be much more effective if the camera was far away from him showing his unprotectedness to the world. Breaking the 4th wall you are asking for action, but for which one? Legally, the issue was resolved pretty fairly. Socially, there are enough real s=xual perpetrators already that were let slide because nobody believed they could commit such crimes. I don't think you should have strong faith in each and everyone's innocence, if you're asking us for that.

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Baller title

I swear there must be a rule that, when making a crime film for Nikkatsu, one's title must go hard as fuck, cause you're goddamn right I watched this purely for the title alone. An ultra-stylish, rapid-fire yakuza thriller, Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! plays almost like an anarchic parody of the genre, from its eye-popping colours, wild comedy and even a bloody musical number. Suzuki's send-up of post-war greed has got to be one of his loosest and goofiest, directing it all with the tongue-in-cheek attitude that, while certainly has lost its bite today, makes for a rip-roaring good time. An unholy cocktail of Adam West's Batman, Connery's 007, Warhol's pop art and swinging jazz.

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Take Aim at the Convoluted Plot

An exceptionally well-shot if bitterly average and utterly bewildering mystery, Take Aim at the Police Van marks the very early days for Seijun Suzuki, far less abstract than what I've heard about his more well-known works. He's shooting to a formula but delivering where it matters, be it the woman killed by an arrow to the boob or the faceless gunman who lovingly strokes his rifle's stock before sticking his bubblegum atop its scope. It's a film I wish was slightly more cohesive (and less jazzy) than it is but Police Van benefits from the endless swagger of its lead and fun filmmaking flourishes to stop it from being a frustrating or bad time. A testament to how artists pumping out quickie exploitation movies can often work in truths about their times that prestige filmmakers can't.

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Joe Hisaishi's music destroys me

From its hypnotic style to its pessimistic plot, Sonatine is a mesmerizing manifestation of Takeshi Kitano's continued revitalisation of the yakuza movie. It is a largely peaceful, contemplative work, punctuated by moments of extreme violence all delivered with purpose balancing the fine line between gorgeously dreamy and grim reality. Kitano's haunting elegy to the gangster way of life, he spends the film exposing the gangster ideal as the myth, of little boys who forget to grow up, doing so with incredible flourishes of style, playfulness and jarring outbursts of his trademark humour. Having only written four scenes, the vast majority of the film was largely spontaneous, often Kitano finding his feet in the moment at hand. Sonatine sees the bleak suicidal tendencies of Kitano's mind coming right to the forefront, especially since he suffered partial facial paralysis after a motorscooter accident not long after this film's release. One he has often mentioned was an unconscious suicide attempt, this alone lends a massive amount of weight to the Russian Roulette sequences, giving Sonatine so much more emotional levity to its already unconventional narrative. With the addition of another stunning musical score by Joe Hisaishi, Sonatine rewards those with patience, offering up plenty of existential dread among its exceptional beauty.

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Raw title m8

A Japanese New Wave Spaghetti Western-styled noir thriller and one of the rawest fucking titles ever, A Colt is My Passport is a down-and-dirty but gorgeously photographed yakuza film, brimming with formal experimentation. The winning combination of Takashi Nomura's supreme emulation of the American noir formula with the sheer badassery of Jō Shishido trumps the often slow middle portion of the film. The climax alone, especially the final 15 minutes and masterful ending, more than makes up for the cluelessness of the majority of the storyline; ending not too dissimilarly to that of Sergio Leone's masterpieces. Rounding off the film with a musical score that sounds almost identical to that of Morricone's works, A Colt is My Passport is a lean, mean and efficiently entertaining piece of trans-cultural fusion where one's passport gives you a fast ride straight to hell. First Class.

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Proto-Shin

If you enjoyed the boardroom meetings of Shin Godzilla, then Day of the Kaiju will serve as a perfect little companion piece to that film, a very bold and lower-budgeted precursor. It tackles very similar themes to that of Shin Godzilla, offering both a serious look at the political hurdles that would be involved with dealing with giant lifeforms and sharp allegorical rebukes toward the Japanese government's handling of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. One only needs to look at Kazuhiro Nakagawa's directing credentials and the film's wonderful direction starts to make sense. The acting is all solid and the minimal VFX is handled very well given the minuscule budget, accompanied by a very understated and wonderful piano score by Masaaki Sasaki, it's just a well-done short that I have next to no criticisms of, exceptionally solid if too short. All in all, Day of the Kaiju comes down to being a foundation piece for a much more expanded take on its premise, I could easily have seen this being expanded out into a TV show. If nothing else, it does highlight my waning love towards Shin Godzilla.

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Terrible, disjointed script and direction makes for a cringy watch

I am always amazed at what gets greenlit into a film or TV show and "Love in the Kitchen" makes for an excellent (or rather, terrible) example of why.

A behind-the-scenes reel in the closing credits shows the sizable production team that made this Republican-era romance possible. The visuals are actually quite nice overall, and is only marred by an awkward, fake montage of changing seasons that ends with our main couple lying jarringly on astro-turf (you can even see where one turf section ends and another begins) surrounded by unnaturally arranged fake flowers, as fake snow drifts over them.

I can forgive low-budget (how many of us love The Untamed, despite that opening scene?), because a strong script can help make up for all sorts of deficiencies. Sadly, the script is a poorly-written, disjointed mess -- the romance development is weak and unconvincing, with no character development or arc. We constantly see the ML manhandle and bully the FL, like a grade-school boy trying to get the attention of his crush by being mean and rude. We rarely see him showing kindness in real-time -- this is only shown through a series of flashback vignettes -- making the FL's feelings toward him rather confounding. Xie Binbin's natural likability is what saves his churlish character from being complete unappealing.

The direction, packed with all the cheesiest drama cliches you can think of (the slow-mo sequences, stumbling into each other's arms, tripping into bed, repeated shots from different angles culminating into the "big kiss" (it was not)) made for such an uncomfortable watch, I almost dropped it after 5 minutes. I kept it on "in the background" and things did improve marginally from there, but again, the mind boggles at how this was ever produced and released.

In the end, most of my vicarious embarrassment was for the actors who starred in this film, especially Xie Binbin, whom I quite like. I hope they all had fun at least!

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