"Why are you trying to kill me?"
Legend of the Bat teamed up Ti Lung, director Chor Yuen, and Gu Long’s source material once again. Typical of these films, there was a huge cast list, betrayals, and hidden identities galore. The fights took place on the ancient version of yachts, dungeons, and of course, a villain’s lair fit for a drama queen.Famous swordsmen Chu Liu Hsiang and Yi Tien Hung come across a massacre of heroes on their trip. One thing leads to another and Chu is headed to Bat Island to help out a couple who tried to murder him. Yi ends up on the boat to Bat Island for his own professional reasons. They are joined by others who have their own incentives for going to a place where anything is for sale. On their journey, they face death repeatedly with some not escaping the Grim Reaper’s scythe.
Legend of the Bat was a sequel to Clans of Intrigue. If there is one thing to be sure of in these loosely related films, the cast will be bloated and the bodies will stack high. You know to brace yourself for numerous characters when the actors' names pop up on the screen as everyone is introduced. Characters revealed their courage and integrity, while others revealed their nefarious motives. There were actually a couple of touching moments of personal sacrifice, even if the reasons stretched the boundaries of believability. Like a good soap opera, several characters came back from the dead.
Ti Lung was back as the fan carrying hero. Ling Yun yet again donned his big hat and moral ambiguity. Yueh Hua and Ching Li played a devoted married couple. Ching Miao took on two completely different characters who were unrelated hoping the audience wouldn’t notice. This time Yuen Wah had a fairly significant role as a loyal bodyguard which I was happy to see. Many of the same actors and stuntmen from previous films were in this film as well though as different characters.
Tang Chia and Huang Pei Chih designed fast, creative fight scenes for the time. Whether on floating houses, yachts, or in the villain’s lair, the swords flashed and the blood flowed. The heroes had to make their way through caves filled with deadly traps with only each other to rely on…and their trusty secret weapons.
Legend of the Bat was wonderfully convoluted with betrayals, family secrets, revenge, unusual characters, and elaborate traps. Billionaires would envy the floating palaces where murder and mayhem took place, minus the murder and mayhem, I guess. Who knows what happens on those yachts. In the previous film in this collection, there were daddy issues. This time around grown-ass children had mommy issues. Instead of murder and crime, couldn’t these people go in together and ask for a discount on group therapy? As always, rated on a curve.
5 March 2026
Mammal note: No bats in the film
Trigger warnings: A rather long scene of four nude “dead” women. Suicide and a person suicided.
Tiny spoilerish comment: The lightbulb gimmick near the end was hilarious!
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A story with no heroes?
I watched this without any background of it as I just stumbled upon it on Daily Motion. The scenes reeled me pretty quickly not to mention the handsome male lead that I was shocked to find out is 45. I knew I was ready for some great acting and fighting scenes only to be left disappointed with the ending, like what was that? My hero's not a hero? I was drawn in and also drawn out? This is definitely not your typical story line. I was rooting all the way for my happy ending. So let's just say I'm still waiting to see what the moral of the story is. The acting is up to par. Actors did the best they could with the script given. I give this a high score because quite frankly, you will watch it til the end. And if that was the agenda, mission accomplished. There was a glimmer of hope with humming of the song, row row row your boat at the end. Maybe that sums it up. Maybe the title should have been, My Stranger Hero 😌Was this review helpful to you?
1"and if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
It’s definitely not a film for everyone, but it expressed something I deeply relate to and that was cathartic for me. Anyone who dismisses it as merely weird or perverted is missing how profound it truly is. It touches on everything — from the struggles of adolescence and mental health to a subtle critique of Japanese society with the lack of mental health support, stigma, detached overworking parents, etc. It’s raw, powerful, and honest. The opening line even states it’s meant for those who have suffered through puberty, which sets the tone perfectly. Of course, Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal is part of the film.The symbolism is brilliant — I especially loved the “other side” theme. It’s probably this impactful because it condenses a massive, masterful manga into just two hours, making the experience intense and overwhelming in the best way. Honestly, this movie found me rather than the other way around.
My personal highlight was Takao's actor — his performance resonated with me like no one else’s could. And the cinematography? Absolutely stunning — every frame was thoughtful, beautiful, and full of meaning.
P.S. You can also read my comment under the review if you've finished watching.
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This review may contain spoilers
poignant short movie
Overall: this 19 minute movie is more of a slice of life; there is an established m/m couple but that's not where the focus is. I watched it on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/6001/colors-of-the-funeral-2022Content Warnings: discrimination, death
What I Liked
- established m/m couple
- character growth
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Excellent Acting but full of Plot holes and stupid decisions by an Elite
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75-8.0Objective Rating: 7.5
I was lucky enough to watch this movie at the theater, which probably increases the suspense and excitement. As I finished watching the movie, I had one big question and one production value complaint. But as I thought more about the movie and read some other comments, there are more and more plotholes.
The acting of the cast is this movie’s strongest point. I am already a big fan of Zhu Yi Long and never really question his acting performance. Jackson Yee acts in more movies than dramas, but his acting is just as good and more subtle than Zhu Yi Long’s more expressive and explosive acting. Rounding up the cast are the veterans Song Jia and Lei Jia Yin, and supporting roles in Yang Mi, Liu Shi Shi and Lin Bo Yang.
If I don’t use my brain much, this movie is full of action, suspense and emotional outbursts. With great acting, time went by really fast. I was engaged and followed along the story, tried to see who the mole was and then looked forward to the decisions made and the ending of the mole.
But once I start to use my brain, then things don’t act up. Why did the mole finally act on being the spy and do bad things? Yes, it might be a scandal since he used his genitals instead of his brain. But that should not force him to act on continuing being that spy. He actually hasn’t done anything horrible yet when he figured out he was set up in the beginning. For someone who is an elite, the dumb decisions made by him are incomprehensible. You knew who set you up, yet you continue to protect her (and think with your genitals) instead of reporting everything to your supervisors to save your ass. Where is his brain??
Women in this drama are resorted to side characters. Yang Mi might have a slightly bigger role. She’s pretty and sexy, and was selling her sex appeal in a way. Liu Shi Shi has a much smaller role. All she did was cry. What a waste of talent. Even Song Jia as the female lead has a lot less screen time than the two male leads. She also didn’t do much aside from a few conversations here and there. Lin Bo Yang disappeared after the initial 10-15 minutes of the movie.
My initial production complaint is the inconsistency of the depiction of this future world. Aside from some fancy drones, fast technology in locating criminals, fancy security cameras, the general feel of this world does not seem very futuristic. The taxis look like regular slow pokes. The cop cars look like regular cars these days. Even when one of the male leads is stalking the other one, it was done in such a low-tech way. Disguise is putting on a wig, mask and changing clothes. Leaving cell phones wrapped in plastic inside trash bins everywhere is child’s play. I guess the janitors don’t really do a good job with emptying trash linings.
To end on a positive note, the OST is great. The songs are appropriate and complement the events on screen. The songs all have a very melancholy sound to it but beautiful.
If it’s not for the excellent acting and the interesting suspense and cat-and-mouse chase (and when I didn’t use my brain much at the theater), I would have rated this movie a little lower. But I was entertained throughout and did find the movie “fun” when I came out of the theater. Therefore, I am giving this an 7.75, rounding up to 8.0. I just wish the script was better and the plot holes are smaller.
Completed: 3/5/2026 Review #672
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It’s not meant to make you feel good. It’s meant to make you feel everything.
All About Lily Chou-Chou is the kind of movie that was often made in the early 2000s;the type that completely messes with your brain and leaves you thinking, *“That was crazy… but also genius.”*It’s not an easy watch. The film dives into different layers of human nature in very raw and unfiltered ways. At times it’s shocking, uncomfortable, and even difficult to sit through. But that intensity is exactly what makes it powerful.
Trying to explain the plot is actually pretty complicated. There are many characters, many events, and a lot of “why” behind what happens. The story moves through different perspectives and moments, but somehow everything connects through Lily Chou-Chou and the music that surrounds her.
Honestly, it’s the kind of film you just have to experience for yourself. Watching it felt like going on a strange and emotional journey. It’s not a happy story at all in fact, it can feel quite heavy and overwhelming. But at the same time, it’s brilliant.
It’s one of those movies that you admire for its creativity and boldness, even though it leaves you feeling a little horrible afterward. And maybe that’s exactly the point.
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This review may contain spoilers
Poetic Justice, No Tears for the Cruel
A heavy and honest film that exposes bullies as capable of real cruelty, showing how they feel no remorse even after their first victim dies.It raises a brutal question: why is a bully’s death treated as more tragic than the life they already destroyed?
The system excuses bullying but punishes retaliation, overlooking the original violence while condemning the response, as if justice only matters when victims take it into their own hands.
A bully dying through the same violence she once inflicted is disturbingly poetic, a pure case of you get what you give, and I have zero sympathy for anyone who intentionally harms others in any form.
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When Protection Becomes Punishment
“Is caring for a victim a crime?” sits at the core of this heavy melodrama about moral gray areas and quiet cruelty.Doona Bae feels like a stamp of quality, while Kim Sae Ron delivers a powerful performance.
Right and wrong blur through the eyes of an abused child raised by morally broken adults.
The film exposes how silence protects cruelty and how helping victims often turns the blame onto those who step in.
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The Hurt Too Heavy for Tears
A heartbreaking, true-story-inspired film where your heart keeps sinking until the end.I felt both admiration and pity for Akira - strong but never meant to carry that burden.
The kids are shattered but never cry, and that quiet sadness hurts the most.
Akira feeding coins into a public phone until it runs out, hoping his mother would answer, broke me and deeply resonated with me.
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When Silence Becomes Complicity
A painful reminder that not all children are protected, even by those meant to love them.Hope turns into betrayal with the line, “God has listened to us and given us a mother.”
Adults fail, neighbors look away, and cruelty hides behind “family matters.”
When someone said, “Some children are simply born unlucky,” the film asks: does choosing not to act make us complicit?
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This review may contain spoilers
Family Found, Family Lost
A story of people, not bound by blood, with nothing but warmth and a quiet promise to survive together.Grandma, once alone, finds her final comfort in the family she built. Osamu and Minato’s flawed but real bond deeply moved me.
The film doesn’t excuse their mistakes, showing how care and survival can be labeled as crimes when the law fails to protect those experiencing abuse.
The melting snowman quietly reminds us that joy doesn’t last forever. They eventually part ways, the family dissolves; but the truth remains: family is not blood, but the bonds we choose.
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Memories Vanish, Love's Ache Lingers: Soul-Deep Feels – 8/10
What If Love Disappears Tonight guts you with its exquisite K-drama tenderness, securing an 8/10 for unflinching emotional warfare. Han Seo-yun, a luminous high school girl cursed with anterograde amnesia—waking daily to a memory void—and Kim Jae-won, a stunning boy hollowed by hereditary heart failure, mark time toward inevitable end. Their innocent love ignites like a fragile flame, defying fate's cruel reset.Han Seo-yun radiates defiant joy through wide-eyed rediscoveries that shatter into silent devastation—each "first" kiss a fresh wound, her positivity a heartbreaking beacon. Kim Jae-won embodies numb despair cracking into all-consuming passion; their raw, whispered confessions and trembling holds claw at your core, blending ecstasy with existential dread.
Pacing pulses like a failing heartbeat: taut loops of rediscovery spiral into harrowing peaks of loss and longing, no breath spared. Sunset vows, crumpled notes of "remember me," and a haunting OST eviscerate you. It probes love's immortality amid oblivion—minor contrivances can't dim its vise-like grip on regret, renewal, and goodbye. A weepy masterpiece that haunts your dreams.
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How to love even when there is a time limit...
If there is one thing I can take away from Drawing Closer, it is that the film shows people how to love—even when life has an expiration date. The two main characters meet by chance when she almost saves his life as he is about to commit suicide. This moment soon leads to their endless hospital visits, where they slowly begin to give each other a reason to live. Each of them starts trying to make the other’s day happier, even if only for a little while.The cinematography in this movie is incredible. From the lighting to the music to the camera angles, everything feels calm and almost blissful despite the terrible situations the characters are facing. I think this contrast is what makes the film feel so alive. The beauty of the visuals and sound design creates moments of peace within a story that is ultimately about loss and limited time.
Although the film uses some cliché storylines, the acting and the way these moments are portrayed make them feel fresh and deeply emotional. The characters are complex, and the film shows the duality of human emotion—how love can become a powerful motivator and how friendship can mean everything when time is running out.
What I appreciated most was how she pretended not to know the truth about their situation. Instead of spending their remaining time in sadness or agony, she chose simple happiness. In their small world, nothing was happening to them. There was no expiration date, and they could simply exist as the people they wanted to be.
The final painting he creates, inspired by the very first drawing he saw from her, feels especially meaningful. It shows how deeply she changed him and how much of an impact she had on his life. In a way, it feels like he is finally ready to be with her again—wherever she may be.
Overall, Drawing Closer is a film that reminds you to live without regrets. It encourages you to treat every day as if it matters—because it does.
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"There's no relationship worth 50,000 taels of gold"
Duel for Gold starred Ivy Ling Po and her husband Chin Han. Ivy’s films can be hard to find so I was excited to stumble across this bloody story of betrayal and gold lust.Two acrobats put on a street show in a town known for silver (and gold) and beautiful women. These sisters, Yen and Ying, are looking to rob the bank that is filled to the brim with hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver. A swordsman without equal heads the security department repelling any thieves. When their plan is discovered, the sisters escape. Also looking to make a score is Teng Qi Ying, The Invisible Loner. Even if it means death, the gold is simply too tempting for the thieves that begin to infiltrate the town.
The film begins at the end, lamenting how people kill for gold, then rewinding to the beginning of the sad tale. As the story went along, 6 people became connected to the gold. Not quite Ocean’s Eleven or The Sting because no one was safe from the dragon’s gold fever that infected every single person. Love, family, friendship--no relationship was worth sharing the shiny bars within their grasp. Watching them all lose their humanity as they betrayed each other was difficult to watch at times.
My two favorite performances were Ivy’s as the duplicitous and not too bright when it came to men Yu Yen and Lo Lieh’s. Lo’s master of disguise thief brought a modicum of levity to an otherwise chilling tale of betrayal. Chang Yi was initially hired to play the bank’s swordsman Wen Li Hsien but it sounds like there was a change of actor and perhaps director. I didn’t find Richard Chen Chun very compelling in the role. The swordfight choreography reflected the style from 1971 which to modern eyes could be more stilted. What they lacked in speed they made up for in quantity. The fights were surprisingly bloody with more than one limb flying and bodies being impaled. I knew when I saw the Shaw Brothers pagoda in the opening shot that my favorite set piece was going to be featured in the final fight.
Duel for Gold plumbed the darkest depths of human nature, showing the lengths people would go to possess a fortune in gold. It started out slow, but gained momentum as the characters were revealed as well as their abilities to justify their loathsome actions. No good guys in this one folks, so if you need at least one hero in your old kung fu flicks, you might want to skip this one. As always, rated on a curve.
“I’m not ruthless. It’s just that the gold is too tempting.”
4 March 2026
Trigger warnings: Dismembered limbs, one was graphic but also a little funny. Gruesome impalements. And a little brain goo. The #2 red finger paint blood helps keep everything from looking too realistic though.
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The film is worth watching and rewatching
In this sci-fi blockbuster, Dylan Wang plays an astronaut named Xu Tianbiao. The plot revolves around a virtual dream system called "Sweet Dreams," which allows people to create their own worlds, but it's fraught with danger. Dylan takes on over 15 different roles in these dreams, from a warrior to a gangster. The film is captivating in its cinematic dynamism, and Dylan has an excellent sense of camerawork. In scenes where reality around him collapses or changes color (like a kaleidoscope), his movements make the action believable, even if it's purely visual. The contrast between "image" and pain is palpable, as you see an incredibly beautiful background, but Dylan's face reflects rage or despair. This dissonance compels you to keep watching, wanting to understand why the hero feels so miserable in such a beautiful world. When he fights in a space where there is no up or down, it looks like an expensive art object. The sheer scale of the film is a joy in itself. Dylan conveyed his character's loneliness through his facial expressions as digital reality crumbles around him. The scene where the character realizes he's just code in the system was the most emotional, revealing his soul, not just his face. With a cold, almost lifeless gaze, Dylan managed to convey his natural charisma and warmth, becoming a frighteningly beautiful instrument of the system. The actor demonstrated his ability to play abstract states.The film is worth watching and rewatching for its fantastical narrative, beautiful visuals, music, acting, and thought-provoking content.
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