Reviews

A melancholic road trip about abandonment.

In his first Korean-language film, Shoplifters director Hirokazu Kore Eda takes us on a rewarding road trip with an odd group of abandoned people. Think Little Miss Sunshine but instead of a beauty pageant, the group tries to sell a baby on the black market... Literally.

At one point, Sang Hyun and Dong Soo are described as child brokers, and considering the kind of business they run, that's probably an apt description.

In some countries, such as South Korea, there are so-called baby hatches where mothers can anonymously leave their babies behind (there are arguments for and against the system that will not be elaborated here). Dong Soo, a baby hatch worker, together with Sang Hyun, a laundry owner, decide to steal a baby to sell to rich and desperate couples who cannot cope with South Korea's complicated adoption laws.

So Young, the young mother who abandoned the baby, discovers them and decides to join them on a road trip to find the best candidates to adopt her child. Broker is about responsibility and forgiveness. It reflects on the family we find in the course of life, and the family we have to let go of along the way.

What Sang Hyun and Dong Soo do isn't very moral, it's a form of human trafficking after all, but the movie doesn't show them as bad people. At the same time, So Young is not a bad person either, even though she tried to abandon her child. The central characters in the story have all been abandoned in some way, be it a divorce or in an orphanage. They all want to give this child a good home with a financially secure family, and they know that won't happen through the legal system of their country.

It is a tragic but poetic coincidence that Broker was released at the same time as the news about abortion rights in the US. The film may feel a little different now because of that, but the focus here is on children who, due to circumstances beyond their control, feel they shouldn't have been born. In Broker there are no decisions that feel right. How can one even choose when it comes to possibly abandoning their child? The magic is how well Kore Eda maps that conflict.

With such broken characters, heavy themes, and dark thoughts about parenting and abandoning children, Broker could have resulted in a much more depressing film. It is thanks to how well Kore Eda is able to balance these ideas along with hope and humor that makes the result more uplifting. The deeper questions are there for anyone who wants to read into what the film has to say, but it's not a barrier to entry to a meaningful experience.

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Quirky fun

Ridiculous idea which could have turned out really badly...but it was funny, silly and sad. A homophobic cop (Greg Hsu) messes up again and again until he finds himself in the biggest mess he's made: somehow he ends up marrying a man (Austin Lin)...who happens to be dead!

It was inevitable that the cop would have an epiphany and become less (and eventually not) homophobic but the journey there was fun (and sometimes I just rolled my eyes).

What I liked: good looking male leads! There were some laugh out loud (and I did), verging on slapstick, scenes throughout the film and especially towards the end. I admit that the ambulance scene made me sad and then almost cheer.

What I didn't like: the reason the female character was looking for vengeance was too obvious for my liking, but I could see that it brought a major part of the story to its conclusion.

Overall, a fun film which is worth watching if you fancy trying something different.

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Well…

Okay I have to admit, I did watch this movie solely because people on tiktok always called it ‘the best korean movie’. I wanted to see for myself what the hype was all about..but honestly, I don’t really see what makes it so special?

The plot is completely incestuous and once that was revealed everything became uncomfortable. You can spare the whole ‘deep meaning’ behind it. I still think it’s a nasty movie lol…

Other than the plot, the acting was truly amazing though! You can tell these are veteran actors. I’m always in awe at how great actors could play such a terrible character.

Though Daesu didn’t know it was his daughter, I still think it was wrong of him to just continue the relationship blissfully.

I don’t know…i’ve got mixed feelings about this movie. I’m just left with a nasty feeling honestly.

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Different story

Quite interesting when read the summary of this movie. Really different with other cinderella or red riding hood story. In this movie they combine it with mystery.... Let's watch....

The biggest difference:
* They have 2 FL, but this is not story about GL. Of course I'm talk about cinderella & red riding hood together at 1 movie. Me of course never encounter this in any movie / drama. Except maybe that Hollywood drama, once upon the time, where they kinda combine every character in the story book....
* This is the story about mystery, where the red riding hood as the detective. & that's mean this is definitely not story about cinderella find her prince charming....
* We have 2 fairy godmother... 2 FL so that mean 2 fairy godmother.... Hohoho....
* They tell us over and over how important beauty in this world... Hoho... Usually it just common knowledge among the people not something people talk about so bluntly....
* Prince charming already had love interest before meet cinderella... Haha... This definitely the first I think, where prince charming not fall in love with cinderella...

Then the biggest surprise come in the end. You'll never ever guess who is the perpetrator in this mystery drama.... That's something so refreshing to see they so dare to make the unusual perpetrator....

Overall this really one good & refreshing take for the story we common with & make a twist with it.... I really hope we can get another story from detective red riding hood....

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BWH&H 9: Unexpected Redemption

You don't hear much about this one, which is both surprising and not. For one, it's the only movie in the series (not including the 2000s duology) that wasn't officially brought over for English audiences, so it's not like a lot of people have seen it. However, it's a lot better than what I've read.

We only have 2 old cast members this time (and for the first time, no Bunta either), and all new characters. It follows 3 friends with different loyalties, and spins out of control as it gets going. At over 2 hrs, this is the longest one yet, and the first 40 mins are pretty slow. It gets pretty good from there though, if a tad predictable at times. It has a very different feel from the previous 8 films, having different crews and music for the tone, so don't expect it to feel like the same series. That said, I feel that's exactly what it needed that the New Battles trilogy was lacking.

It's kind of sad that this hasn't been given the love it deserves, and I hope Arrow eventually brings it over to us. I'd love to have it in my collection, especially as it washes away the bad taste left in my mouth from the previous film. All in all, not a bad way to finish off the series, even if it is almost entirely unrelated.

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A Beautiful & Tragic Gem

as someone who watched wuliang first, this made my heart ache. this short film revolving around Xiao Wei, Pei Rong and Wang Sheng makes you question, 'where does love come from?' 'how does love come to be?' or 'who loves who?'

with a stunning production and amazing cast, this short film definitely HITS you in the right spots. you will feel the pain the characters felt, the love they felt and the confusion xiao wei felt. i haven't watched the original but this remake really nailed it. there was something absolutely ethereal and haunting about the story.

xiao wei was a very interesting character because he is morally grey. he couldn't understand what he was truly feeling so for him to have 'emotional' connection to the husband and wife took a wild turn for all the characters.

overall, this was yet another amazing short film. i can find myself watching this again because there was so much that happened in just 31 minutes that i need time to process. my one advice would be to watch this before you watch wuliang to avoid feeling an empty void in your heart.

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Older sapphic women deserves their stories to be shown on screen

I have been excited about Gagaoolala as a platform since I discovered it in 2020 when it wasn't even really available internationally and you needed a local number. Since then, they have opened internationally and I keep saying I should get a VIP account, but I am a PhD student and time not something I have in enough quantity to justify the cost. Which is why I was very happy when I got reminded about the fact that Gaga is making part of his catalogue free to watch every week. Encore Martha was part of the free release for this week and I could sit down for the less than 30 min it takes to watch it.
I have been trying to watch more queer Taiwanese productions recently and I am always on the lookout for good sapphic short films so it truly felt like the stars had aligned when I heard about it.

Starting with the story itself and as stated in the summary, this story is about two older women which is rare enough to be mentioned. I do love stories about teenagers and young adults as much as the next person, as someone in their late 20s, I do like seeing myself represented on screen. But representation, especially when it comes to queer representation needs to show everyone, including older people, both so that everyone can see themselves represented on screen, but also so that younger people can see a potential for their future (I'd say that it is also important for straight people to see it, but let's be real, this is an original production from Gagaoolala, the vast vast vast majority of the viewers are going to be queer). By only having young queer adults on screen, it can be difficult to project yourself in the future. But having characters of a different generation can also enable different themes to be explored. The path to acceptance in our societies is still long, even here in Sweden where it is very normalised. It was even more so 30 years ago when the main characters in this short film left each other as 20-somethings young women because society and families were not as accepting.

This story is about reconnecting after what feels like a lifetime ago and asking yourself once more "What is it that I want? Am I allowed to want this?" The same questions and the same fear that plagued this relationship 30 years ago are back, but society has changed, the adult children of today are not the grandparents of yesterday. Also special mention to the fact that one of the two main characters is a butch lesbian, we stan.
In a way because it is so short (it is after all the format) and while it does answer enough question to feel satisfying, it still feels like something is missing, like something more is needed (when can we get a drama with older sapphic women with flashbacks and enough episodes to fully develop their story??). Still it manages to ask a lot of good questions on self-acceptance, what we want out of life, our relationship to our families.

On the production side, the cinematography, the editing, and the general directing is very good (as expected from that kind of productions from Taiwan) and the theme song is both nice to listen to and meaningful for the story. The actresses are furthermore very good and really sell the story, which is good as the format means their acting is essential to developing what cannot be developed in the script and story itself.

All in all, I am very glad I took that half an hour to watch Encore Martha and I would encourage you to do the same.

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Unhinged and exciting performance of Kim Seon Ho, you might never see him the same way ^O^

This very gore action movie took me by surprise. I found it pretty good on some aspects: pacing, some great actions sequences with some shocking moments with disturbingly big amounts of blood. Where it missed slightly the mark for me was in terms of characters likeability. Everyone is kind of detestable so I was not very invested in the survival of anyone. The man hunt was still pretty entertaining but would have been better if I care about the protagonist being chased.

I watched this film for Kim Seon Ho and was not expecting to see him in such a different role. He did not disappoint and provide a very good performance playing an unhinged and quite crazy hitman. On the other hand, I found Kang Tae Joo lacking in terms of charisma next to him. Hiq role was central to the plot but with very few dialogs, so I am not sure if it is the script or the actor who is the most at fault here. The other side characters were good overall, fitting well with the craziness and over-the-top actions sequences.

If the soundtrack did not stand out to me, I was impressed by the production value and I found the parodic undertone enjoyable. The fight scenes were good, the gory details were really bringing the film together, making the picture daunting but still beautiful in a way. The chasing scenes with cars or just characters running were well put together and successfully stressful.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thrilling action movie and do not mind gore. If too much blood is not your thing or if character likeability or relatability is important to you, do not watch this movie. I had personally a good time watching it and I am wondering if a second watch would help me appreciate some of the characters and plot elements better (such as the ending which left me an uncanny feeling regarding the movie's morale and meaning).

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BWH&H 8: A Disappointing End

I don't know where to begin with this one. It might just be the culmination of this trilogy altogether that soured my views towards it, as it really just feels too similar to the previous two New Battles movies. But I do have to admit, there were some very odd choices with regards to story direction with this one that I can't shake days after watching. The whole weird brother/sister thing that wasn't necessary, for instance (if you know, you know). On the whole, this just seemed like it existed for the sake of it being a trilogy.

We're once again given a completely new cast of characters with many of the returning actors, and again I'm left scratching my head as to why. It almost feels as though this is a remake of the Boss' Head, as it covers most of the same beats. I also found it more difficult to follow who was who, and it just felt kind of exhausting to figure out. None of the characters stick out, and we're meant to loathe them all equally.

This weird trilogy goes out with a whimper, even though we're treated to an ending unlike we've seen before, the open-endedness of it feels like a copout. If you're going to watch all 8 films, I would say watch the first 5 back-to-back, and then space this trilogy out a bit.

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Crazy Love Story Which The Ending Story Goes Downhill

The first-half story line is fine but the second-half goes down to the bottom.

FL (June) had a few boy-friends in her school day. She might like one of her school friends (Guy) but did not know what Guy thoughagain t about her. When June grows up and meets a man (Pete) whom really loves and is very nice to her … and it seems that she does not love him as much as he does. Pete proposes and give an engagement ring to June. June accepts and decides to stay together with Pete although they are not yet married. BUT when June meets Guy in one-day, she starts to waver to him and doubt about his feeling to her in the past, The written story reveals that they both might like or love each other back to their school-days. June and Guy can not hold their feelings and end up having a kiss in a photo booth.

Then June comes back home to talk with Pete that it is hard for her to longer stay with him and tells Pete that she is not good for him whom has done nothing wrong. Pete still does not understand why June wants to end the relationship. While they are talking, Guy shows his SELFISH character by sending a photo of his kissing with June to Pete b/c he badly wants June to be with him. This scene, IMO, obviously portrays Guy’s unforgiven behavior in insulting June, the girl whom he loves … and June’s selfishness in thinking only about herself and NOT caring the man whom loves her so much. The kissing photo makes Pete feel upset and finally Pete and June end their relationship.

Then June decides to fly aboard to escape her guilty feeling in hurting Pete. It is so disappointing that the story does NOT show ENOUGH growth or learning for both June and Guy ….. The ending story is when June comes back and meets Guy in a party, it portrays that they both feel sad on what they had done and forgive themselves which the (opening) direction that June and Guy may start their relationship.

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Gay straight pairing ... Light BL vibes ... A good one though

As my headline suggests .. they made a gay- straight pairing. Maybe that's why there was no intimate or even a kiss scene between the leads but their chemistry was bang on!
The story moves slowly and gets interesting as it progresses.
The acting is pretty good.
The theme seems to be BL but it is light hearted comic cop story with little sadness and twist here and there.
My BL heart really wished for a different ending or atleast a final kiss between the leads to make up for the ending bcoz even though one of the lead claimed himself to be "Straight" but you can find him slowly falling for the other lead.

Anyway, overall a good movie to watch and kill time.

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TW for graphic SA

This movie was great until the ending. The ending shifts the entire film into a depressing perspective, despite the attempt at an uplifting conclusion.

There were truly no winners here and that is life, but damn! I thought Riku was being genuine when making amends, I did not expect that R scene. It is sad that Ichiyo took his own life, his mental stability fell so fast and rejection lead him to end his life. Amakami did nothing wrong... yet he suffered the most.

Again that's life. But I hate reality. 😂

In terms of acting, this was very well done. The movie itself is good, but the sad ending ruined it for me.

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This was a brain twister and deep SyFy Fantasy Movie and a must see for me.

Here is a quick Korean or Chinese drama downtime moment that will only take an hour and one half of your time, but will stick to you with afterthoughts for several days after viewing. This is the Romance Fantasy movie 0.1% World. Personally, I could loop this movie over and over and not discover all that is there to take in. 0.1% World is the story about a girl and boy living on different continents. Inexplicably, they get linked to each other’s brains. They can hear each other, talk to each other and at times even move the body parts of the other. Because they live in different time zones and on different continents, it becomes a challenge to live and fashion life under these circumstances of a mind meld. Neither one wants to know the identity of the other at first. They just need to placate the problem by learning how to live with each other, sharing lives as they do, and not get in each other’s way, until they figure out how to fix the problem. Ultimately, what does this shared experience do for them? This Chinese SyFy Fantasy movie blew my mind. It invoked such deep thought surrounding their dilemma and how they chose to resolve certain issues.

The stars of the Chinese film are Zhou Yi Ran from ‘When You Be Me’ (2022) and Patrick Shih from ‘Someday or One Day’ (2022). I recommend both works by both actors in addition to their collaboration in 0.1% World.

These two travel through Discovery, Compliance, to Discord in 0.1% World.

Actor’s Corner

Both actors give dynamic deliveries in 1% World. Taiwanese actor Patrick Shih often has been compared to Park Seo Joon by Netizens. He speaks fluent German in this movie, 0.1% World.

Zhou Yi Ran is also a great young Chinese actress. Her acting abilities and range of acting are fully on display in ‘When You Be Me’.

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A gentle, understated film about humans endlessly, fiercely screaming and clawing for love

That's exactly what this movie is to me, a silent scream, a completely inaudible roar for love and happiness - and it is absolutely, unrestrainedly, beautifully joyous.

I love nothing more than quiet, profound explorations of the human condition (forgive my use of that pretentious phrase) so I already knew I was going to like this movie, but I had no idea just how much I'd love it.
It has fantastic writing, stellar performances from the entire cast, and the editing as well as the soundtrack (or more often the lack thereof) perfectly underscore the characters and their emotions and lend the film its distinctive, quiet atmosphere that lets it tell its story so effectively.

But more importantly than all that, this movie has things to say. About being human. About being happy. About love.
And is says these things in so many tender little moments that all build up to a big thundering shout, until every frame seems to scream about reaching for joy and happiness, about the clawing fight and the simple reaching out, about what it means to love someone, anyone at all, and why it is vital for us squishy, brittle, hungry humans to experience that love as the transformative force that it is and let it makes us bigger, and stronger, and kinder. About finding beauty and care and kindness in other people and allowing them to change you, but also about the kindness of being uncompromisingly yourself.
I could spend hours waxing lyrical about the wild joys and endless griefs of being human and why media exploring those themes is so valuable, and this movie certainly gave me ample opportunity for it, but I don't think that's necessary.

All I need to say is that if you like movies with authentic, believable characters, respectful yet unflinching exploration of queer topics, and heavy themes of love and joy and forgiveness and the journey the search for these things takes each of us on, then this movie is without a doubt perfect for you.
And if that doesn't sound like it'd appeal to you, I'd encourage you to watch it anyway; genuinely. There is so much to love about this film, so many wonderful ways it could be viewed, I think you might just end up loving it for a myriad of reasons that I didn't even touch on.
This is one of those films that makes your life slightly better for having seen it, so go watch it and give it the chance to do just that.

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