Reviews

The movie has nearly 3 hours to show us a sweet time-traveling romance, with a side of Thai history. And it completely squanders it.

A lot of time is wasted on slo-mos and long gazes. Pope and Bella can act with their eyes, but their romantic gazes mean nothing without a proper foundation of a love story. So he loves her because she appeared in his dreams? And she falls for him after he shielded her from a flying piece of wood (of his own making, I might add)? It's flimsy. She's just as likely to fall for Methus, who not only saved her but also has more in common with her. But of course that never happens, because we are told ad nauseam that Bella and Pope are "destiny," which is codeword for lazy writing.

The political conspiracy is equally sloppy. The writers build up this mystery of the man in the iron mask. In the end, he turns out to be some random guy we never seen before and don't really care about. There is a plot twist, albeit a poorly set up one, also involving an evil mastermind that we don’t care about.

The time traveling subplot is nonsensical, at best. What makes Methus so special that he gets sent back into the past? Nothing, except that it’s his “destiny.” Fortunately by this point, my brain has already packed up and left for vacation. As for the comedy aspect, the gags are done in the typical over-exaggerated Thai style. It is not enough to save the movie.

Perhaps this review is too harsh. I'm just tired of the dull writing and direction that completely waste the talents of the cast. Pope, Bella, and Ice all deserve a better script.

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Overall a sweet movie to watch for a Saturday or Sunday matinee. Nothing special but I did like the cast and characters. PSJ was really good as Hong Dae.

I really liked the relationship between Hyo Bong and his daughter Eun Hye and how they showed that just b/c he was homeless he loved his daughter and wasn't a deadbeat and she loved him too.

I liked how it was about redemption for some of the team members and wanting to belong for some of the other team members. That's what sports do. They bring people together. Especially, big sporting, international team events. It's the collective rooting for the home team or the underdogs that we all really love.

8/26/23

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Watch only if you have a strong stomach

In the 1970's movies and television dug into the occult and often mixed it with a little sexploitation. Black Magic was one of those movies. The movie boasted a strong Shaw Brothers cast-Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Tien Ni, Ku Feng and Lily Li. It also had a host of slimy creatures. You'd need a strong stomach to watch it.

Ku Feng played the Black Magic magician with a laughable gray wig. Lo Lieh loved Tien Ni's money so he needed her to fall in love with him. Tien Ni was in love with Ti Lung's body and needed him to fall in love with her. Ku Feng wanted to sleep with Tien Ni. Finally, Ti Lung and Lily Li had a wholesome love that was definitely going to get messed up by all the lust and greed in the air. The Black Magic started flowing and nobody ended up with exactly what they desired. Fortunately, Ku Wen Chung played a good priest who helped sort things out by the end.

There were plenty of dead bodies, nude bodies (some writer had a fetish about women expressing breast milk), snakes, worms, centipedes and other vile bits. I'd have to include Ti Lung's horrible wig among the scary objects. The only thing that caused me to rate this as high as I did was the hilarious finale where good and evil fought it out with cheap 1970's special effects and sound effects on top of a building scaffold. I watched it on my quest to see all of Lo Lieh's movies. Other than that, I couldn't recommend unless you enjoy films with all of the above.

8/26/23

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"One who readily falls in love can hardly be a faithful lover"

A Spray of Plum Blossoms was a modernized and loose adaption of Shakespeare's first play, The Two Gentlemen from Verona. This is one of only seven Ruan Ling Yu films readily available and while her part is relatively small, she still makes the film worth watching. The silent version I watched used Shakespeare's names for the characters and I will do the same in this review.

400-year-old spoilers ahead! Valentine and Proteus are friends from military school. Proteus falls in love with Valentine's sister Julia and vows to take care of her while his friend leaves for a post at Guangzhou. Upon Valentine's arrival he falls in love with the general's daughter Silvia, who reciprocates his feelings. In time, Proteus is assigned to the same post but he doesn't leave before declaring his undying love and fidelity for Julia. Proteus arrives at the post in style via a bi-plane. Proving he truly is the General of Perfume he immediately falls in love with Silvia.

Proteus betrays his friend, causing the General to discharge and exile Valentine. Proteus has competition for Silvia in the form of Thurio, another soldier vying for her hand and the general's favor. Silvia refuses both as her heart has already been given to the disgraced Valentine. When Julia finds out that her brother is in trouble, she travels to the army post and confronts Silvia not about her brother but about Proteus. Silvia convinces her that she isn't in love with him and that he is the reason for Valentine's predicament. Silvia and Proteus take a horse ride together so that she can make him confess. He does but then tries to rape her. Thurio rescues her but has the same violent impulse that Proteus had. Fortunately, the Plum Blossom Bandit who is Valentine in disguise saves her. The next day she and Julia (who is dressed as a male soldier) are captured by bandits on a ride into the countryside. They are brought to the Plum Bandit and the women and Valentine are reconciled. Along with the bandits they set a trap for Proteus. After being confronted by Valentine he confesses his crimes and attempts to shoot himself but is thwarted by Valentine. General Sze arrives and Proteus confesses to him as well. Valentine and Proteus make up even though Proteus tried to rape his girl and had him exiled. It's implied that Proteus and Julia get back together and everyone is one big happy family.

I had hoped that this film would avoid Shakespeare's misogynistic 'bros before hoes' ending. At least Valentine didn't offer Silvia to Proteus in this film. Aside from the unsatisfying ending, I enjoyed this tale of true love, friendship, betrayal, villainy, and without earning it-reconciliation. Ruan and Jin Yan always had a nice chemistry, even if they were playing siblings. Lin Chu Chu as Silvia gave a wonderfully spirited performance as the woman who was loyal to Valentine and to her new friend Julia. It was an interesting take on the military with women leading the men and in uniform in various situations.

The existing film that I watched had been cropped. The words on the intertitles were cut off on the left and bottom. At other times, the film was damaged making it hard to read the light words. There was no music. I've watched enough silent scoreless films that the lack of music doesn't even register anymore. This film felt very ambitious compared to other silent films. Though the core cast had most of the lines there were numerous extras. Silvia's plum blossom room came across very stylistic. Aside from the military camp, the characters were filmed in what would have been beautiful, wide scenery. Silvia escaping on horse with the dastardly Thurio right behind her was exciting and well shot.

I think Shakespeare would be pleased that his play was first made into a move in 1931 and is still available nearly 100 years later. He might have had to get used to the idea of women as actresses but I think Ruan Ling Yu and Lin Chu Chu could change his mind.

8/26/23

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It's better than the current 7.3 rating. Worth a shot!

There are many “Painted Skin” movies and dramas, and they all are adapted from the collection of “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio”. I think this newest movie version deserves more than the current 7.3 rating on MDL. For a lower budget web movie without any big name actors, this movie has a simple plot that flows well. There’s a beginning, middle and end, and they all make sense. I don’t feel that the movie was too rushed or too draggy within its 1 hr and 20+ min runtime.

This “Painted Skin” has a different story from the 2020 movie, which is more of a BL. Maybe it was rated higher because of the BL craze? I actually like the 2022 version more and felt that the production quality is pretty good for a web movie. The intro is a little creepy but really reels you in. The tone is set right from the get-go. The costumes, sets, fight scenes and especially the CGI is really good. I’ve seen other big budget productions with way worse production quality and make my eyes roll with crappy green screen scenes.

The acting of the cast is decent, though not extraordinary. At least, I don’t feel distracted because of anyone’s subpar acting. Nita Xia and Shi Guo Hui are both beautiful actresses and could definitely play the role of a demonic seductress. Kenji Chen is a handsome fellow and I don’t blame the female lead for falling in love with him at first sight. The supporting cast is small with many veterans, who all play their roles well.

Overall, I recommend this movie if you enjoy a fantasy forbidden romance, with a slight horror tone to it. However, don’t expect a star-crossed lover type super romance. There are no fluffy or cute scenes. “Painted Skin” is an easy watch and nothing really stands out for me to say is annoying, irritating or terrible.


Completed: 8/26/2023 - Review #345

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A Pretentious 'Masterpiece'

Not all films or series with a good cinematography and acting are worth it, especially when the story is trash... This is how I'll describe this film.

This is very pretentious, to the point that there is no meat to the story in itself.

The actors and music were decent. Too bad that in its goal to be artsy, the rest of the aspects of a good creation was forgotten. To think that the length of the film was sufficient.

Even a problematic person would have a more decisive way of storytelling and reasoning than what the writers did to this film.

I deel bad that it looks promising but it remained to be all in the surface as nothing is inside it.

I ended watching the film with regret... regret that I even bothered to watch it.

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A mellow ode to the barter system, object value, and storytelling

This film is slow and mellow, like most slice-of-life tales, and I very much came to love it. In the beginning, I was quite put off. Where is this going? When will Josie start running her decisions by Doris? Will we see the less aggravating side of their sister relationship?

The first thing that really drew me in is the fact that their business is based around the bartering system - something I am quite fond of myself. While the coffee and baked goods are still sold using money, the collected items around the store are all for exchange. It's something that they kind of fell into by circumstance, but quickly proved to be the best thing to happen to them. We also got to see how it meant different things to each of them. To Josie, it was an opportunity to exchange up for both parties. Item A means more to me than Item B, while Item B means more to you than Item A, let's trade. Meanwhile Doris saw it as a peek into lives and dreams she never had. Each person's experiences led them to being able to make an exchange and carried memories through the exchange themselves. In these perspectives, you could see these alternative aspects of the leads' personalities that they previously didn't get a chance to explore.

"In this city, surely there's someone looking for bone china, and surely there's someone with a spare set. Surely someone has an empty sofa, and surely someone else is looking for it. They just haven't found each other."

I also like how stories got incorporated. The overall film is sort of being told as a story. Then we have a storytelling traveler who becomes a frequent and important presence. We also have stories being told by visitors about why they want certain goods or are there in the cafe to begin with, and the stories being told by Josie to serve as an exchange for something Doris wanted. And throughout it all, Doris never had a story to tell herself. Which made the ending just that much stronger and memorable.

"You were right to say that by running an exchange, we'd hear lots of stories about things we haven't experienced. But the more of them I heard... the more I wanted stories of my own to exchange."

And it make the subtle subtextual romance a mellow sort of poignant too. Did Doris like the storyteller, or was she romanced by the stories he told and the wanderlust he inspired?

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CREPPY in a SPECTACULAR WAY

I am not an avid fan of gore films and series but I already prepared myself of the possible things that I may see in the movie given the title since I already have an idea of what the title means. I will give my review in relation to the ratings that I have given above.

STORY:
The story is quite interesting. An idea of an exclusive conservatory and somehow juvenile students and the thing they do. What's lacking on that part was the WHY of every character. Why they were sent or why they went there? Answering that question will help us understand the personality of the characters but in some way not answering that question added to the suspense value of the story since we don't know the backgrounds of each character and the things that they can. Another thing to be applauded with the story is the illusion it portrays. Since they are an acting club we can't deduct nor tell at first glance if what partakes in the story are all an act or reality.

ACTING/CAST:
To begin with, hahaha seems like I have a thing with Komiya, the one who played as Itsuki. After watching his series entitled ETERNAL YESTERDAY, I was so stars truck with him. From his looks to his acting skills but I'll try to be objective in this review. Acting with such topic or scenes is difficult. You should convinced the audience that you are terrified or afraid for them to believe you and that cast did a great job in that part. I so love the several touch of BL being a BL lover those scenes are like a breath of fresh air hehehe.

MUSIC:
Without a doubt the music has added to the suspense or thrill of the movie. That part should be understandable and agreeable.

REWATCH VALUE:
Will watch part of it especially the BL scenes but not the gore ones. I am not that person who easily lost his/her appetite while watching gore films, in fact I can eat while watching those gut slicing with exposures of intestines. I don't really mind but it's not my thing.

OVERALL:
As BL, a bit but not with the standards. I gave it a 10 because of the story quality, acting and cinematography. If you are someone who is not into gore films. You won't really like. For some who can tolerate but don't really love gore scenes you may come to appreciate it like me and for some who are into gore file this might be for you. In short, people will surely have different perspective with this films bit in order to like it you must prepare yourself for what you may see but don't set a particular standard in your mind before watching do. That way, you may get to enjoy the film.

In the end, this film made me love Komiya Rio better!!!

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Pass the Tylenol...

The Emperor and His Brother starring Ti Lung had an over-stuffed story and cast making the plot almost impossible to follow. It's been a long time since a kung fu movie gave me a headache trying to make sense of a convoluted plot. Even a strong cast could not save this movie from sinking.

I'm acquainted with how historical movies and dramas begin with a brief history recap. For those of us not as familiar with Chinese history, I actually appreciate them. This film took the summary to new extremes. For over three minutes characters raced through the film's backstory at a rapid-fire pace. I actually paused the film to see if this was a sequel to another movie. No, Chor Yuen and writer Ni Kuang just crammed as much as they could into a small amount of time. I didn't even try to keep up.

Wen Tai Lai was wanted by the Emperor because he knew the Emperor's secret. He was a Han and not a Ching! Ku Feng took Wen in but the fugitives were betrayed by a child offered a telescope by the Emperor's man Chang Chao Chung. Ti Lung appeared as the new clan chief and began working to devise a plan to help Wen escape. Eventually, Ti discovered that he was the Emperor's brother! With this bloated cast there were numerous breakout attempts leading up to a battle royale in the Imperial Garden.

The film had an unnecessarily convoluted plot that had me rolling my eyes when it wandered away from the main story. Side stories were started and then dropped, including ill-fated romances! For that matter, the movie ended without tying up the main story in a satisfactory manner. Guess they ran out of film.

What the film did do well was evidenced in the final fight. The baddies led by Lo Lieh's Chang used Tiger, Eagle's Claw, and Iron Fist styles to combat the good guys. For once, the good guys were a stronger match than their opponents. Usually by the end of these films, most of the good guys are dead with three or four survivors ganging up on the Big Bad to take him down. Ti Lung's Blossom Fist and Peacock maneuver were invincible. The final escape by the good guys was ludicrously bad though. Aside from Ti Lung and Lo Lieh, the film had numerous recognizable fighters and stunt men. Scorpion Venom Sun Chien was the strategist for the good guys. Kent Cheng had a small comic relief role as well. Ku Feng came through in the most emotional segment of the film as a father who had to make the ultimate sacrifice for honor and his clan.

The Emperor and His Brother with its bloated cast and story had too much going on to focus on the story. Every time it launched into another long complicated way to overstate the plot, I lost interest and started looking for the Tylenol. If they'd cut the cast and streamlined the story it might have been far more enjoyable. Strictly for hard core fans and Shaw Brother completionists.

8/25/23

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Get your tissues ready!!!!

Just finished watching and all I can say is AMAZING!!! What an amazing movie! The wait was worth it! I was so ready for this movie. The trailer was great, and it definitely did not disappoint! I laughed so hard and cried my eyes out all at the same time. UGHHHHH so good! We will miss you MaoMao ♥ I didn't mind that it wasn't a true BL but if it was omggg! The love and respect Ming Han showed MaoMao proves that Ming started to care about him. Bromances are just as good as BL. The chemistry was DEFINITELY there! I loved every moment of this movie. I would've never guessed Zi Qing, and her backstory gave Kill Bill vibes lol. So, thinking of it that way made sense to me. Also, it wasn't even shown whether she got caught or not, which I am guessing she probably didn't? Which tbh in my opinion wasn't the center of the movie. Seeing how much Ming Han had changed after MaoMao ascended was beautiful! I mean peek the tumblr guys! I thought it was MaoMao's cup and maybe it was when he was alive but to see Ming Han with it just warmed my heart. The fact that he is still living in the apartment as well and showing his respects to MaoMao just made me smile and cry all over again!

What an amazing job producer! Hands down a 10/10 for me!

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Wow, so toothless!

It appears the director Kim Joo Hwan has a thing for animals. "Koala", "Lion", "Hunting Dogs", now this. A surprisingly toothless movie about a big load of abandoned puppies.

🔸️It would seem impossible to film a wholesome fluffy Golden Retriever in a neutral manner and make it appear soulless, although they managed to achieve it here. I'm so sick of long rambling descriptions of the characters unhappy lives, I couldn't care less. There soon will be more dogs than kids in Korea, so they thought the movie would sell well. It didn't. It lost a bunch of money in box office. As for me, I'd rather watch some lunatic shit and enjoy it than the blandest tear-jerker marketed for the broadest audience.

And no, I'm not a heartless monster. I had a red cat that I loved the most, then he died, and the story was over. Yes, I miss him sometimes.

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What would you do for love?

"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all!"

I have a huge headache!

I should stop trying to find logic in time travel movies! It is impossible to find seeing how complex the very notion is.

I saw the series a couple of years ago, I have no memory of it only a vague feeling of total incomprehension and loss: all that travelling back and forth was headache inducing. The movie is just the same only shorter. So the headache arrives really quickly!

I think that the movie is loosely connected with the series. Again, it is a story of lovers who travel back in time, using a walkman, in order to save the loved one from dying! Eventually I realized that there were four different persons trying to change the past. Unsuccessfully!

Only when they learn the lesson quoted above (and at the end of the movie) can they sort everything out!

It is a sci fi movie so let's just leave it in the realm of fantasy and enjoy it for what it is , a fun ride! So I have no intention to nitpick and overanalyze the plot point and the travel plans.

I liked it better than the drama: it is shorter. The actors are back but did Greg Hsu sign a contract demanding to be the only good looking person in the movie? Alice was made to wear frumpy clothes and horrible wigs and Patrick a moustache!

The music was nice though if I never hear Last Dance by Wu Bei again it will be too soon! The rest was better since we heard it less!

Anyway, the movie is fun. And now let me go and get a paracetamol! My head is killing me!

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Han Hyo Joo Forever...

Hi all !
One of my favorite movie ever...
Living in France, I only saw it for the first time, by chance, in 2015, on a bad DVD with poor English subtitles. Since then, I have watched it 33 times...
I advise you to watch it once, you will never forget it again.
The story may seem distressingly banal, a variation already a thousand times glimpsed of a love that at first sight seems impossible.
But the difference here is the actors, So Ji-sub of course, but more specifically Han Hyo Joo.
I'll be frank, I'm not very objective when I talk about her. To say I fell in love with her forever is an understatement.
The first time I saw her, I was struck by lightning, struck by the purity and innocence of her eyes.
The great French poet Victor Hugo wrote much better than me that in front of so much charisma, beauty, innocence, words are useless, contemplation is enough.
I don't know if Always will be considered as time goes by as a great movie, but for me it is quite simply unforgettable.
I could write about her for hours, I've seen all her movies and dramas, i even learned Korean so I could listen and understand her in her native language, but I've already been too long, and probably boring.
One last word. Humbly, Han Hyo Joo, 사랑해.

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