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..AND SHE LIVES (UN)HAPPILY EVER AFTER..
..well not as always a happy ending - sadly for one of the main cast...
..the story is seems like an isekai-themed where two popular character on children's story meet..
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..from the title itself, yes, a crime genre story too..
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..love the casting and the flow of the story - easy to follow once the alibi and the evidence appears one by one..
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..but the latter part is somehow a shocking for me - didn't expect that the reason why the Prince met Cinderella - a shoe that will step as an strongest evidence for her..
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..in the end, the whole story is just so amazing for me, a genius one..
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"As if the Earth has been turned upside down"
In Shindo Kaneto's Onibaba, the viewer is left wondering who is the demon? In a time of war between two emperors, the poorly armed peasants pressed into military service suffered as well as the women, children, and elderly left to face violence and starvation at home. During this time a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took drastic measures in order to survive.As the women were not given names, I'll address them as MIL and DIL. Isolated near a swampy pond surrounded by tall grasses the women have made the terrible decision to murder lost or injured samurai and sell their armor and weaponry for food. They dump the bodies in a deep dry well within the sea of grass. One evening a neighbor returns after deserting the second army he was forced into. He claims that he escaped when farmers killed MIL's son. He was given a name, Hachi, but since the women have no names I'll identify him by HD (Horny Dude). HD has fallen as badly as the women for he showed up in the clothes he'd killed a priest for. HD desires DIL and slowly she gives into her sexual appetite and begins meeting him at night after MIL falls asleep. MIL tells him to stay away from DIL until they are able to harvest a crop. She can't murder samurai by herself and without DIL, she'll starve. HD tells her that he will just stay "friends" with DIL until then. When DIL is at HD's hut having a friendly mingling, a lost samurai general appears at the women's hut and orders MIL to guide him out of the grasses. He wears a demonic mask which he says is to protect his handsome face from being marred in battle. MIL tricks him into falling into the death hole and then climbs down to retrieve his gear and the mask. The mask, however, is adhered to his face and when she finally pries it off, she sees his grossly disfigured countenance. MIL tells DIL stories at night about hell and demons and the punishment for unmarried people who give into their lust. Wearing the mask, she terrifies DIL in the tall grass as the young woman is sneaking to HD's hut at night. After wearing the mask during a rain storm MIL discovers the gruesome curse for herself.
Onibaba wasn't a horror movie in the classic sense. It felt more like an episode of the Twilight Zone where karma played a trick on someone daring to taunt forces beyond their control. The tall grass acted as a fourth main character, waving and creaking haunting howls in the wind. Like predators slinking through them, the women pounced on the unaware unseen. HD and DIL had sexual trysts hiding in the reedy arms as well. Fair warning there was nudity in numerous scenes.
Onibaba explored how society and morality breakdown in the face of starvation and death. Murder and stealing no longer seemed wrong. Hunger for food and sex became overriding desires. While MIL had almost masklike features of exaggerated eyebrows, extreme makeup and Bride of Frankenstein hair coloring all before wearing the mask, the other characters behaved as immorally. Lust was the least of their sins. Ironically, the women never seemed to grasp that the man they had hoped to come home had fallen prey to civilians just like themselves trying to survive. Prolonged war leaves a society and its rules in tatters, making demons of many without the need to physically transform. But weren't the greater demons the ones who started the wars in their insatiable need for more power and voracious greed for more wealth?
10/2/23
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I genuinely think this is the best thing I have ever watched
Now, whilst I enjoyed the first and second season, to me it wasn't top of my list. Yagi Yusei's portray of Kiyoi throughout the first and second season is the main reason I enjoyed it. Normally both characters in the couple have to be grasping my attention for a series to really be enjoyable, but I found myself so frustrated with Hira throughout s1 and s2 that I wanted to watch an edit of the series with just Kiyoi.I could genuinely write a dissertation on Yagi's portrayal of Kiyoi and I'm not even what I would consider a "fan". Like I know nothing of his other works, but his acting in this has genuinely bought him to the top of every possible list. The most phenomenal part of his acting is in that portraying Kiyoi he portrays all very different, warring sides to him. The side that is polite and business ready as an actor, the side that is casual with others, the side that supports Hira, and the side we all love and that doesn't come out "explicitly" but in the change of his tone, expression, and use of words, that only Hira sees, his selfish side. My favourite though is his vulnerable, "weak" side. When Kiyoi cries and his voice breaks, you feel it, your heart aches for him. And though I didn't want to watch a sad story I wanted to see that again, and luckily in this movie you do, often for good reasons.
That being said whilst I was looking forward to seeing Kiyoi again I wasn't looking forward to seeing Hira again. I didn't feel in s2 there was enough growth for Hira and its frustrating watching behaviour which I think genuinely stems from neurodiversion and needs some learning on Hira's part to understand others emotions and how to communicate his own. This to me is not an overnight solution, and frustrating that the "introverted" character in dramas often gets mixed up with the character that has clear spectrum signs and is expected to just overcome his struggles with gumption. Hira's stutter and difficulty processing others emotions without being explicitly being told them, are all signs of that.
That being said, this movie is not that. Hira's worship of Kiyoi still continues but not in an obstructive way. Kiyoi has become better at making Hira understand his feelings, and Hira miracle of miracles actually takes the hint from time to time. I especially loved the moment where Kiyoi uses his "King" persona to force Hira out of a state of hesitation and anxiety over taking his photo, and focus on him (also I would have loved if they explored a bit more the dom/sub undertones of their relationship but alas only so many tropes can be covered in one movie).
All in all the movie shows growth and intimacy, a side to their relationship which I wish had been shown sooner. It really is so satisfying watching them connect and understand each other, and the story is wrapped up so beautifully nothing feels missing or incomplete.
Also quite rare in bl is intimacy scenes which are actually real. I am so fed up of the "obligation kisses" in drama where actors just purse and press their lips together, and fancy music plays in the background and that's that ticked off the list. It feels awkward and cringey. In this there is none of that. When Kiyoi and Hira kiss, they actually kiss. There isn't a lot of it, but intimacy portrayed by these two actors goes so much further than kissing. Kiyoi's expression and voice just from being touched by Hira, the way he gets embarrassed and shy is honestly *chefs kiss*. Genuinely props to the actors for really throwing themselves into it without any restraint, their immersion made it actually believable. My only misgiving is, just like the end of the drama when they are properly intimate for the first time in the lab, there is this ridiculous solar flare of a light in the background for "artistic" purposes and it is so incredibly distracting. Like we don't need to see them doing the do in detail, but don't bother filming it if you're going to make it impossible to watch. Unfortunately the final scene in this movie does the same. There's a weird semi-transparent fabric net over them and all I could think about was, are these actors not suffocating in there? Thankfully halfway through the scene the camera comes inside the "net", and I get it was supposed to be this whole ethereal effect, but it would have been all the same if not better, if it had just been natural and real instead of all artistic.
In conclusion to this long, derailed review, go watch it, you won't regret it. I rarely rewatch but I really think I will rewatch this one.
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Ghost Sweepers aka Fortune Tellers was a frenetic mish-mash of half told stories and back stories labeled as a ghost comedy. Whether you find it funny will depend on how much you enjoy slapstick hammy humor and acting. It looked extremely low budget and low tech and hasn't aged well.A wealthy woman who wants to develop a small seaside town invites 50 shamans to rid the place of a malevolent ghost who has killed 87 people over the last 50 years. Once the shamans arrive, they are attacked by a vicious spirit and most hightail it out of town. The five remaining shamans include---a scientific ghost buster, a young woman who can see the past, a small boy who can see the future, a Buddhist monk who can see the spiritual world with his mystical eye, and a shady shaman who uses his abilities to become rich. Along for the ride is a reporter in trouble with her boss whose father died in the town years ago. The local fishermen work for the ghost, a ghost who is protecting a Japanese treasure on the sea floor.
The movie started out promising by introducing the characters and their abilities. Unfortunately, the female shaman and the school age boy had little to do in the movie and they had potential. One of the five was cut down early, which was too bad, he was one of the most interesting of the characters. In their throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks mode, the story included an estranged father and son. One of the problems being that in real life the actors were only 14 years apart. A father and daughter separated by a mysterious death had a couple of side stories. None of the "emotional" backstories were delved into but took up time in a too long movie. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the female lead. Kang Ye Won overacted and the character was written as illogical, childish, and annoying. She and the shady shaman were given the lion's share of the screen time along with the ghost buster. I enjoy Lee Je Hoon's acting but his character felt underdeveloped.
No part of the movie was polished-the story, acting, or CGI. At times it almost felt like a high school play where they were making up it up as they went along. There were parts of it that were entertaining and if a competent enough hand could have brought the circus under control it could have been quite a good little ghost movie. As it was, I struggled to finish it little caring who made it out alive, which I'm sure the little boy could have foretold if he had been given enough screen time.
10/2/23
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Mr Perfect was not perfect, but was fun
The tone was set for this movie when the Korean assistance who was not proficient in English was told that she could speak Korean and he would speak English, because he understands Korean. The voice in my head said, “Yeah, but will she understand every English sentence he speaks?Anyway, the proper tittle for the movie is ‘Seducing Mr Perfect’ and it was a cute cliché movie that featured multitalented stars of that time in 2006. ‘Seducing Mr Perfect’ is not a ground breaking movie, nor is the movie about seducing anyone. The term seducing is used in an outdated way. In updated English, this movie could have been called Catching Mr Right.
Quote: I want to fall in love with a man and not feel lonely.
Quote: A woman who has just been dumped needs a shoulder to cry on, not a critic.
Seducing Mr Perfect (2006) stars Korean actress Uhm Jung-hwa (Dr Cha) and Korean American actor Daniel Henney (Hawaii Five O, NCIS: Los Angeles, Criminal Minds: Beyond the Boarder). These two make a really cute couple, so the movie is not a total waste of time. I even enjoyed it.
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Movies are built on “what ifs”
Devastating, cruel, heartaching, bleak like a domino effect of misfortuneJust like Saw and The Mist, everything would’ve been better if they worked together
But in this black cold interpretation, one bad choice, one act of unkindness, led to another bigger deeper hole
In ways no one was to blame, he was scammed and he lost everything and then some when the earthquake hit and took his family so all he had left was that empty shell of apartment
They had to kick the intruders cuz they almost killed a person
And with that power came dark responsibilities
He took his anger at the supermarket guy and I think that should’ve been the line
But that was just a spark that made the “outsiders” fear and despise the apartment ppl
For me, the most heartbreaking thing that really made me burst out crying was the “kidney” guy that hid the kids and mom, lose it and killed himself after he saw how the apartment ppl made the others who hid outsiders apologize so cruelly 😭
Then it got darker when the “outsiders” attacked and 902 was just really trying to survive and fit the narrative of the apartment ppl, they were the ones who suggested the kicking, he just wanted to grasp and survive
But dang dude went crazy when he threw the kid in the never ending hole but the way he still tried to help the rest and threw the bomb… things were just so grey…
Now minsung and myunghwa should’ve stayed cuz 902 had time to go back to the ninth floor, yet another sad symbolic way of his desperation to grasp at the last thing he “owned”, but in ways minsung was already over his limit when he didn’t help out the ppl cuz he to was just desperate to survive with his wife
And myunghwa needed to go out and show the ironic and simple way ppl beside the “cockroaches” lives, a simple act of coliving and helping each other out
Tho another plot hole was how eventho they always went out to look for food, they rarely met other ppl and never found other survivors in such a big scale
Tho the news about the crazy apartment ppl would surely make ppl try hard not to show themselves
That was honestly beautifully acted tho, every emotion, every devastation was perfectly executed
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It's just beautiful
Love the storyline, love how it's presented, acting is great, camera work is even better and the chemistry between the main characters is very unique but I gotta add one more thing: the lack of all the "beauty filters" in this series is just beautiful and you don't get to see it in many series (especially these days) which is upsetting. So glad I found this one cause I just started getting tired of all those "sugary sweet" looking series with heavy filters on them so that that the actors look "cuter".. idk it's just nice to see some skin texture, you know? not anime like glossy blurry skin 😭Was this review helpful to you?
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We already know the original story of the Red Riding Hood, yet this movie was not about the young girl's trip to visit her grandmother and encountered the Big Bad Wolf. Akazukin has set out on a journey, yet along the way encountered an incident that led to the discovery of a murder! And it's up to Akazukin to identify the real culprit.
Akazukin met with Cinderella, and decided to help her to go to the ball. Yet they ended up involved in a murder investigation. And the truth later on end up unlike what anyone could've expected.
I totally didn't expect how Gintama-like this movie end up being. And Sato Jiro playing the king just brought back the old Kagura-Henpeita banter that always amuse me. And seriously I love the different take on the 'fairy god mother' trope in which in this movie was just an old witch who's a bit bad on magicking people's shoes and her niece who's a bit better at it.
I really enjoyed this movie, and it's a pity that it's not a serial drama. I would've love watching what other kinds of adventure that Akazukin would encounter.
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Romanticizing abuse in relationships..
Okay so first of all, this movie is veryyyyy graphic. In terms of sexual content and abuse. I spent half of my time pausing this movie because of the very very nauseating scenes. I may sound extra, but as all the other reviews say this movie includes rape.What I don’t like about this film is the fact that it leads the victim back to his abuser and accepts him back to whatever you call a toxic relationship. I feel like stories like these just make out the victim to be clueless and “ask for it”. Like the amount of trauma this character had been through. Like the first chapter of the story was already upsetting, but the next one is a whole different story.
The only thing I could pick from this was, “there’s not much left until you experience the reality of life.” In the sense of this whole movie and manga included, that this movie is essentially about life and death.
One character wants to die but cannot bring himself to die. While the other character just wants to die. There’s nothing more to it. The overall story was compelling and it was very intimidating. I guess it would somehow make you think in the end.
But this also all roots down to consent and what to bring in a relationship. What the second main lead had, to him it was something special, and because he never had that closure of his other partner passing, he chose to “save” the first main lead. And sort of keep him away from him doing anything to himself. And I think because he chose to set him “free” in the end was because he knew he’d come back.
“Dangerous drugs of sex” has nothing to do with sec other then the dynamics of a toxic relationship with an abuser and a victim that has been affected by Stockholm syndrome. Because no one in a sane mind would willingly go back to such a person.
But regardless I think everything else was good. The acting was good, the music, etc.
I just would’ve liked a much less predictable and graphic story.
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inutile
Affrettato e infantile, pieno di buchi nella trama e, in definitiva, abbastanza inutile.La coppia principale, che è anche l'unica, tutto sommato ha una chimica decente e la recitazione non lascia troppo a desiderare, così come i costumi, per quanto abbastanza dimessi, e le ambientazioni decisamente anonime. i combattimenti almeno, non fanno rabbrividire come quelli di altri drama. Il lieto fine è d'obbligo, ma il colpo di scena finale è talmente telefonato che la produzione deve aver pagato un capitale in bollette.
Il fatto che ne abbiano fatto un film forse l'ha penalizzato, magari ci avrebbe guadagnato un po' con la formula del mini drama, alla quale si perdona qualcosa di più. Il fatto che, invece, si trattasse di un film, ha fatto brillare tutte le cose negative. appena sufficiente, buono se si hanno un paio d'ore da buttar via.
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incredible use of time
i'm stunned at what they managed to portray in just 20 minutes. the characters were lovely and realistic, the dialogues hit, the chemistry was incredible (!!! the tension/release was palpable), the conflict was unique and semi-realistic. all of it was visually stunning, too. (plus, the fish allegory?????) i could totally see this being fleshed out for a miniseries. then again, they did say all they needed to in such a short amount of time. congrats to the cast and crew on this compelling piece of work.Was this review helpful to you?
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More teeth but not more fun than the original
If you watched surprise hit, The Meg (2018), and go into The Meg 2 expecting Shakespeare, you get what you get. The first Meg film was so bad it was hilariously funny. The second film had better acting than the first and tried to have a stronger plot and slightly better science. Unfortunately, it made the cardinal sin of focusing too much on the humans and not enough on the monsters. Which was perplexing given there were more Megalodons and a dangerous menagerie of creatures from the mysterious depths of the ocean.Jason Statham returns as Jonas the Daredevil Diver who has turned into a fighter for eco-justice. Cai Shu Ya once again plays The Special Child, Mei Ying. This time Mei Ying is motherless and seems to be living at the Oceanic Institute either with Jonas or her uncle Jiu Ming. Jiu Ming (Wu Jing) is brilliant and reckless. He attempts to train a young Meg named Haiqi and is unafraid of being in the water with her. Cliff Curtis as Jonas' friend Mac and Page Kennedy as DJ (who can now swim and is no longer a terrible stereotype) are back as well. Along with new guy Jiu Ming, Melissanthi Mahut joins the good guys as Rigas, the fearless pilot.
This time instead of stumbling upon the Megs on their maiden voyage, the crew is studying the bottom of the Mariana Trench with better equipment and understanding of what lurks in the scientifically inexplicable dark…or so they believe. When they stumble upon a secret facility at the bottom of the ocean, they face betrayals and bad guys willing to do anything to protect their valuable secrets.
Statham made for a serviceable good guy who can face 90ft/27m ancient sharks without flinching and take down bad guys with his bare hands. Wu Jing was also shown as being super heroic and invincible. While I'm usually disappointed when an actor replaces an actress, Li Bing Bing struggled in her role as scientist and Mei Ying's mom in the first film. Wu Jing seemed to be enjoying his time running from prehistoric creatures and attacking a giant octopus. Curtis and Kennedy had more to do in this film instead of standing around wringing their hands. Mei Ying as the adventurous fourteen-year-old and Rigas as the tough talking pilot at least made viable female characters. The Big Bad and her minions were all but cartoon characters.
Once the critters in the water and on land showed up the movie became more interesting. Guys with guns, and not done well, really weren't. Were the confrontations between man and giant fish/octopus/freaky amphibians realistic? No. Were they fun? Most of the time, yes. There were a couple of very funny moments. The underwater scenes that should have been frightening and claustrophobic, weren't done particularly well. It was hard to care about the people who died because we didn't know them and didn't provide the jump factor either. My biggest complaint with the Megalodons was that they didn't show the size perspective very well. But there were plenty of fins and teeth. The monsters always appeared on the surface where there were revelers in the water to give the ginormous sharks and creatures plenty of people to choose from and the heroes lots of innocents to save. For those who are very squeamish the chomping wasn't too blood thirsty with a PG-13 rating.
It's hard to not compare the two movies. The Meg 2 had better acting and in some ways a better script than the original because while it also used stereotypes at least they weren't racist and sexist stereotypes. The drawback was that it took nearly a third of the movie to pick up traction. Jonas' fight with polluters in the opening scene had nothing to do with the rest of the movie except to give him a reason to pummel people. No one wants to watch someone talking on a microphone at the beginning of a giant shark movie either. Bring on the talent! For the genre, TM2 wasn't bad, if you watched Big Octopus you'll know what I'm talking about. Those who enjoyed The Meg may enjoy this one as well. If your tolerance for clichés, stilted dialogue, and people being chomped on by creatures is low, better to avoid this one. The Meg 2 may not have been an ex-squid-it Shakespeare Underwater, yet for a ridiculous movie about Megalodons, it wasn't carp either.
10/1/23
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O:G1 - Exactly what I hoped for
I've had my eye on this series for a few years now, but the boxset has been hard to come by (for a decent price). I had high hopes going into it, probably higher than they should have been too. However, I am so happy this film lived up to everything I wished for.The movie moves at a breakneck pace, much like other Yakuza films from this period. What sets this one apart, however, is that we're given characters we can actually like and feel for, which is a bit of a rarity with this genre. While I found the twists to be a tad on the predictable side, it was still a pretty satisfying venture despite that. The only "real" criticism I have for this movie is, as is usual for these Japanese oldies, the fight scenes were pretty awful. This would have been a solid 10 if they had managed to fix that up. However, you know what you're getting into with these.
Can't recommend this enough if you're lucky to stumble across this set for a decent price.
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Executed Poorly but...
This is one of those movies where the story is there but the execution is not. For a low budget movie the production was excellent however, the story is lost in all of the mood and suspense building. The title is also not the best especially when this is more of a ghost story. I mean I guess one of the characters can be considered a stalker but not for the title to be Stalker.The cast is really good too so that's a plus for the film. The FL is outstanding but unfortunately I don't know her name. She's not listed in the credits here and tried every avenue I could to try and find who she was. She was very believable as a person who seemed to be losing their mental faculties and Kim Jung Han was great as the perceived, crazy next door neighbor.
The movie is worth the watch at least once.
10/1/23
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