Reviews

Interesting context and 1st half, weaker in its conclusion

This movie features a different kind of mystery locked-room, since as stated in its title, it involves 6 lying university going through a quite crazy (and highly competitive) hiring screening process.

There were enough characters and twists to make it interesting while remaining quite focused on a central mystery. If the first half was really good with all the build up to get into the locked-room and the locked-room aspect working pretty well in itself, the overall conclusion and morale was a bit on the weak side. The societal criticism felt lacking as the cycle seemed to be repeating at the end. The motivation of the actions of one of the character felt poorly explained to try to patch everything together in a clunky manner.

Production-wise, it was good enough to make every aspect of the events happening in the locked-room clear, except for the conclusive ones which were lacking (mostly because of the writing). Acting-wise, it was solid. Each member of the cast manage to play very well the bright and darker side of their characters' personalities.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy locked-room mystery. It is a bit different from the usual ones as the context of the screening hiring interview makes it a rather unusual flavor. However, the writing is weaker in the second half which, coupled with an average pacing, tempered my enjoyment of the movie.

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Same flaws as part 1 but worse because of the liberties taken with the source material

If part one was disappointing, part 2 was worse. There were some differences with the source material that really further impacted negatively the overall interest of the story.

I was glad they avoided the childhood connection trope but truly disappointed at how they handled the Sun Ho (aka Kanda Shun) and Seo Joon (aka Igarashi Yu) storyline. The band twist did not work as well as what happened to their bandmate. It dramatically reduced the stakes of their relationship, and I would truly have preferred they went the idol road, like in the source material.

There were other poor scenaristic choices : all the storyline around Kanda Shun mother did not work, especially because of the clunky acting of Watanabe Keisuke who had chemistry with no one, making neither the romance nor the bromance work nor the painful family aspect. The way they concluded the romance was also a mistake in my opinion...The many writing issues, combined with poor acting and mediocre chemistry, really made the second part of this adaptation annoying to watch.

I would not recommend this to people as I don't like how they dumbed down the plot...Not saying that the source material was without flaw but I think it was an error to adjust the background stories of the male lead and the second male lead. Unfortunately, the heroine felt so bland that I struggle to find anything worth mentionning regarding the character. To be transparent, I am influenced by what I know from the original material and from the South Korean drama, if you haven't seen / read it, maybe you will appreciate it more than I, without the disappointment factor.

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Impossible for me to not compare - It does not live up to the South Korean drama adaptation.

Even if I try to look at this movie in itself, separating myself from the South Korean drama adaptation (which was far from perfect, as well as what I have read from the source material, also pretty flawed), this film was quite a let down.

It is very colorful and pretty but the romance never worked for me, with the chemistry being very poor. That's the biggest flaw, with the lack of charism of the main cast. The role of Su Ho (called Kanda Shun in the japanese adaptation) is a pretty robotic one, but it felt even more bland in this version with the actor Watanabe Keisuke playing it in a very awkward way. The role of Seo Joon (here Igarashi Yu) gave me one of the strongest Second Male Lead syndrome but in this new adaptation, I felt nothing. To be fair, Tsuna Keito acting was not the worst but clearly he is suffering the comparison with Hwang In Youp from the South Korean drama.

While the movie took some shortcuts on the original story, the core of the story remained the same (even if I was frustrated at some scenaristic choices) but the feelings felt lacking as everything was accelerated. However, I feel it made perfect sense to split the story in a two part movie and to make the split at the point they chose to do it.

I would not recommend this movie to people as I feel the South Korean drama, despite its flaws, does a better job at bringing the webtoon to live. There are a lot of storylines that felt rushed off and the overall impression on this first part of the story is quite a superficial one as it does not dig enough into the suffering of the heroine and some of the most dramatic elements from the original story.

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what a great movie

I just finished the movie, what a great movie, what perfect casting, and what a great performance by a girl who is only 16 years old (but with a resume of acting from the age of 6-7), a movie that combines laughter and sadness in one package (yes, I cried), a movie that touches on a wide range of emotions, great relationships and great communication (keyword) of a family, whether it is between a father (uncle) and a daughter or whether it is between a grandmother and a granddaughter or a son-in-law or between friends, it is hard not to compare it to the Corona pandemic, or to the series "Happiness" (Park Hyung-shik). I enjoyed the whole package and also the message "One person is enough to believe in you" .... Love, perseverance, support and communication..

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Quite symbolic encounter between two slightly odd human beings

I liked this indie film with the image of the rake, it really made me think. Are you erasing your past ? Are you erasing yourself? If this central question of the story is interesting, pacing could definitely have been better, even for a short film.

The soundtrack was ok but nothing really memorable, and I also felt the acting was very green. It is very understandable why the characters gravitate towards each other, but the attraction factor was missing from the acting. While those elements felt lacking, filmmaking was good, with some striking moments illustrating the questioning of the movie.

Overall, I was pretty impressed by the meta aspect as the film, featuring students of an Art school while the movie is really made by aspiring filmmakers from the Film School of Tokyo.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy indie movie . It has a subdue atmosphere and feels almost phylosophical in its meta aspect and the constant questionning made by the characters.

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What a Great Comedy!

What a hilarious show! The number of comedy is extremely generous. This you can make you laugh, cry, then laugh again. The storyline doesn't need anything complicated.

Unfortunately this show is far from flawless. The big names in this movie are somewhat a waste. With Jung Seon Ji having two personalities, I thought Yoona will have to play two characters. However, the day version of Seon Ji doesn't seem well developed. Character Jung A Ra and Hui Beom are both just cosmetics, their involvement is far too minimal. Also the story itself has a big letdown at the end. Actually, nothing wrong with the jar plotline. But why the jar has to be buried and placed under the boulder when it's just kimchi inside???

Still back to the first point, it's a show with generous number of comedy!

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Memorable and gut-wrenching story with an interesting structure

This movie took me on a wild ride : I felt physically sick at some point because of the events unfolding on screen. The fact that the story is based on real life events is just heartbreaking and the social criticism raised by it is really worth a watch. It left me with a very profound and resounding impression.

The unreliable narrator angle took by the film is very interesting in itself and has a clear shock factor. I wish a longer epilogue would have exploited it even more, especially to get more details on the outcome of the story. I also wish a third view would have been set up to define even better the media role : the part of Kamenashi Kazuya could have been developed more, even if in itself it did a solid job showing the brutal impact of media targeting. A better pacing and and a longer epilogue showing the various sides would have been perfect to round up the movie.

The acting was excellent : Ayano Go as well Shibasaki Ko who hold central roles, were both scary and painfully touching depending the angle you were looking at the story. Miura Kira played incredibly well his traumatic part and overall, I hope to see him grow into an amazing career, as kid role can sometimes make or break a movie, and here it was really well acted.

The production value was pretty good: very grey and anxiety-provoking...With images that are leaving me with lasting torturous feelings.

I would strongly recommend this to people looking for a crime thriller with a very interesting point of view. The movie can be pretty triggering so you might want to have a look at the tags. However, I feel the best way to enjoy this movie is to go in blind, not knowing what it is about. I had no clue what the story was about and it really impacted my watching experience in a positive way as I was dumbfounded and grasping with a lot of feelings.

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Too late for a Happy Land

Recently, I’ve started going blindly into new Korean movies, and I’m glad I didn’t read the synopsis for this one on this site, because it reveals something that had a big impact on me while watching the movie. So I hope you can also watch it with a clear mind and just let go to enjoy it as much as I did. For me, this is almost a perfect action thriller, and after watching it, I became interested in reading the novel as well.

It’s enough to know that the main character is a female assassin. Although she’s a woman and old, her strength and skill were quite believable—except maybe in the final act, where things got a bit exaggerated. But it still worked within the spirit of the movie. The heroine’s name is important, and it changes throughout the story as we see her in different stages of her life.

The story flows quickly, with intense, brutal, and sometimes hard-to-watch fight scenes. So for action-genre lovers, this movie has all the right ingredients: masterful and serious action, a compelling and interesting story, and even a thoughtful drama about the value of life. The producers and actors managed to make us care about the characters, feel their pain, and ultimately hope for a better future.

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Not alot of Touching

There are some films that just resonate with you as a person -- Yonehara Kosuke character would be relatable to any quiet disillusioned adult -- who hasn't been effected by a betrayal & who also hasn't been pulled out of your slump by a Taniguchi Masashi eternal optomism & acceptance == I love Japanese films full stop -- they get the angst of the human condition better & it is portrayed by Japanese actors amazingly -- I find there is always a sexually preverted edge to these films but in No Touching at All it is used effectively to propelled a very slow moving plot -- this isn't an action , nor is it an overtly sexual film , it is more a film that shows how a person's hurt can be overcome & healed when the right companion comes along

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Jiangshi Fu!

The Spiritual Boxer II aka The Shadow Boxing wasn’t a sequel to the original Spiritual Boxer. Wong Yu starred in both and there was some cross-over cast playing different characters, but that was about the extent of it. This one was a must watch for me because of---jiangshi/hopping vampires.

Fan Zheng Yuan and his gambling addict master, Chen Wu, are corpse herders. As they lead a parade of 9 hopping vampires through the countryside they run afoul of a local warlord and his criminal minions. The bad guys are on the hunt for Zhang Jie whom they framed for various crimes and had thrown in jail. Zhang managed to escape and has seemingly disappeared. When Master Chen is injured, Fan and hanger-on Fei Fei are called upon to lead the hoppers home which is complicated when it turns out one of their wards is not what he appears to be.

I was not a fan of the original Spiritual Boxer. This film benefited from Gordon Liu and Lau Kar Wing helping Wong Yu carry the show. Lee Hoi San and Wilson Tong were properly threatening baddies. Norman Chu even made an appearance as one of the villains. Cecilia Wong’s Fei Fei was written to be annoying and she fulfilled the job perfectly. And of course, the hoppers contributed their fair share of entertainment. Filmed 6 years before Mr. Vampire, this was a lighter version of the coming vampire franchise.

Lau Kar Leung was both the director and the martial arts director ensuring that the fights were high quality. Wong’s Jiangshi kung fu style was slower, but humorous. Lee had to slow his moves to counter the hopping vampire inspired style. Gordon and Wilson brought the speed and pain with their fighting styles.

The Shadow Boxing’s story was uneven and often ridiculous, with not too bright characters, but with jiangshi bunny hopping around and well- choregraphed fights it was a mostly entertaining flick for the genre. Only for fans of these old martial arts movies. As usual, graded on a curve.

31 October 2024
Triggers: brief bare breasts and buttocks.

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The Spiritual Boxer was an early Shaw Brothers kung fu comedy starring Wong Yu. For the most part it was inoffensive and yet also mind numbingly boring. Wong Yu did not have the charisma to carry off this bland redemption story by Ni Kuang.

Hsiao Chen is separated from his master when Chi Keung was taken to jail. Hsiao takes over their spiritual charlatan business by accident and then purposefully. He’s saved from a group of thugs by cross-dressing Jin Lian who becomes his new “disciple” in the business. The two end up fleecing people even as they convince the villagers Hsiao is a medium for the gods. When Hsiao begins teaching the villagers kung fu to protect themselves from the local gangsters, the Big Bad calls in reinforcements that may be the end for the “spiritual boxer.”

I had high hopes for this film when the introduction included an exhibition match with Ti Lung, Chen Kuan Tai, and Wilson Tong. It went downhill from there. Wong had skills but lacked the star power to carry this film. The film had numerous familiar names as villagers and the Big Bad’s thugs. Lin Chen Chi in a wig that looked like combed out roadkill, did an adequate if not memorable job. Shih Chung Tien wasn’t exactly terrifying as the local crime boss Liu Deruei. Lee Hoi San and Ng Hong Sang did, however, bring the menace as Liu’s hired specialty killers.

The bookended fights were well choreographed as Lau Kar Leung (one of my faves) was both the director and martial arts director. This was only his second directorial effort so I’m willing to cut him some slack. Spiritual Boxer was the film equivalent of luke warm water, not awful, but not good either. Graded on a curve as usual.

31 October 2025

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What to do with these Super powers

I honestly liked it. It was a nice short film. It got to the point. It didn't introduce anything that I could not resolve within the short time frame of the film. The punishment matched the crime and gave itself a very brief. But self-explanatory plot line. I was a bit disappointed with the budget , but it is a short film. We met the characters and got to know where each of them were standing. I Figured that the with the ability that the shaman had there was no way that all of this could be going on than being none the wiser. Overall, the story took a wonderful term.

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predictable horror movie

high schoolers going to abandoned building and making some horror video is popular in horror genre and i thought this one would be different because the beginning very promising but the story getting worse and worse every minutes, every characters has zero survival instinct and just stand there doing nothing while their friends getting attacked

they also tried to bring romance in the story which is stupid, how can you think of confessing to someone while your friends died in front of you?

overall it's just another horror movie with horrible story writing and lazy ass characters

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A Charming Slice Of Life With Twists

THIS IS A FULL SPOILER REVIEW but spoilers will only begin after the Read More button.

Unreachable is a slice of life drama centered on the lives of three young women sharing a house on the outskirts of Tokyo. Written by one of the best current screenwriters in Japan, Yuji Sakamoto, it explores the day to day life of three childhood friends as they make their way through their daily lives as they go to work and school, and ultimately address their past and relationships within and outside the trio. Glancing at the cast consisting of Yokohama Ryusei and the three women played by Hirose Suzu (Misaki), Sugisaki Hana (Yuka), and Kiyohara Kaya (Sakura) one might guess that there might be a love story here and, indeed, love does play a part, there is no romantic love story in this film.

It is a film about three women dealing with a world that fails to see them, and how they are constantly trying to reach out to others to affirm their identities.

It is highly recommended that you do not read the rest of this review until after you have watched the film or unless you do not care about spoilers at all.

Unreachable is a slice of death drama centered on the daily activities of three ghosts haunting an abandoned house on the outskirts of Tokyo. It is a ghost story told entirely from the point of view of the ghosts. Horror and ghost stories are a miniscule part of my media diet, and so I do not know if that's a trope in the genre, but it would not surprise me if it were. In any case, that premise is revealed about a quarter of the way through the film.

The girls were nine when they were killed by a knife-wielding psychopath while they were preparing for a choir competition at school. (It occurred to me while watching that the set up would make much more sense in the context of the continual school shootings we subject ourselves to in the US.) But they have continued to grow up together in their own parallel world where they can grab copies of whatever material things they need, but cannot seem to be detected by any creatures in our world. Yuka has decided to go to college and study physics to see if there is any physical explanation of their state, while Misaki and Sakura have adopted working roles that at least allow them to pretend that they are part of some social groups.

As such, the film focused on the young women's attempts to reach out to others, and, in particular, their relationship to the people who still grieve their passing. One of the plot threads deals with a family member confronting the killer who was recently released from prison, and that's a theme that Sakamoto dealt with at length and much more deeply and effectively in my opinion in his 2011 series Still, Life Goes On.

The more interesting plot thread is that between Misaki and her childhood friend, Tenma played by Yokohama. The tragedy continues to haunt Tenma and Misaki truly wishes to help him find his way to healing and getting beyond his grief and survivor's guilt.

Prior to this year, Sakamoto has rarely ventured into genre fiction with the only notable exception being his version of the Chinese classic Journey To The West in his 2006 series Saiyuuki. This year he also wrote the time travel film 1st Kiss which was much more successful at the box office. But he is, as ever, the master of the telling detail, and in this film there are several instances where the revelations of those small details will likely pierce your heart.

Is our world Unreachable to the three young women? Sakamoto resolutely refuses in this film to answer that question unambiguously. But it is entirely clear that the short time that the three spent here continues to effect and shape the lives of others, and that that love is not unrequited.

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