This review may contain spoilers
Eh...
I feel like I have bad luck with BL movies. They are never good.Story: The story progression of this did not make sense to me. It was mostly like watching a silent movie. Not many lines, no buildup, just a bunch of scenes pushed together. The lines you did get contributed to a very boring plot line. There wasn't even a happy ending.
Acting/Casting: The whole thing was just bland and seems to exist just for the sex scenes tbh. Those scenes were decent, you could feel the chemistry between everyone, but that's about it.
Music: Not amazing and not awful. Probably the only good thing in the movie.
Rewatch: Not likely.
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"I am taxi driver, you are taxi 손님."
There are at least two countries that I have learned a lot about and admire: the United States and South Korea. The book Human Acts by Han Kang accidentally came into my posession two years ago, and it's extremely vivid and graphic depiction of Gwangju Uprising made me want to learn more and more about Korean history to find out what have this nation come through to become a leading democratic country that the world looks up to nowadays.🔸️There were only several foreigners in Gwangju on the first days of the massacre, including 5 Peace Corps volunteers, and all of them chose not to abandon their Korean colleagues and friends despite the direct warnings from the American Ambassador. Later, when a few foreign reporters, including this movie's main character Jürgen Hinzpeter, arrived, they helped them by being their interpreters. If you have seen the movie you already know what happened to the fictional character Jae Shik. A few Koreans who did speak English would not desire that attention from the ubiquitous KCIA.
🔸️I love A Taxi Driver for its amazing execution, production design, and a pretty much historically accurate timeline. It succeeds in capturing the sense of confusion and danger coming from all the sides and making spectacular and tragic scenes like the taxi cars battle and the arrogant German reporter coping with shock and guilt by filming his dead companion and the bloody havoc around. No one in Gwangju knew what was going on, later hearing the infuriating official news that the upheaval was incited by "bandits" and "impure elements from outside the city".
From "Witnessing Gwangju" by Paul Courtright: "The [elderly Korean] halmeoni's grip tightened on my arm and she turned to face me. 'We have no voice. You have to be our voice. You have to tell people outside our country what they're doing to us'. She glanced around the street, then returned her fearless gaze to me. I was rooted to the spot. I was to be the "witness" and she had given me a clear task."
🔸️No country exists in a vacuum, and I find it fascinating how people from different provinces, from different nations can work together, bond, and help each other, i.e. Seoul and Gwangju taxi drivers, Gwangju people and foreign reporters, volunteers. Man Seop didn't choose between his daughter and a grown-ass foreigner reporter. He was choosing between what's best for his family and what's best for his country. Along with self-sacrifice this makes it a clear patriotic idea for the movie.
I've been learning about the Gwangju Uprising from the article of the witness Peace Corps volunteer Tim Warnberg "The Kwangju Uprising: An Inside View", 1987, and the memoir "Witnessing Gwangju", 2020, by Paul Courtright. I highly recommend to read them if you're interested, as the writing is highly detailed, captivating and visual.
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I’ve been searching for this movie for ten years!
I watched this as a kid and I always remember the song I hum it to my son this movie was so sad and beautiful I wanna watch it again but I don’t know where to. I miss every second of it, I’m so surprised and overjoyed that I found this on here.Was this review helpful to you?
Impressively goofy yet equally dark
A spiritual successor to Yuen Woo-ping's earlier triumph, Drunken Master, The Magnificent Butcher does take a while to get going but once it does, it doesn't let up. Its action is consistently wonderful, often the result of a misunderstanding due to Sammo Hung's character being too impatient to hear the whole story leading to a series of unfortunate events throughout. The combination of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao is always a treat and here it's no different, but as a comedy film first, the tone is right down the middle, featuring everything from fart jokes and the Popeye theme to an incestuous rape which drastically changes the direction of its story, if a little clumsily. Regardless, what The Magnificent Butcher does offer is Woo-ping patterned precision and creativity when conducting a fight scene with the two different tones of the movie offering such visceral moments of martial arts excellence.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The only "BL" series where I have cried all the way through the BL NC scene!
There is a BL element to this--a very important one--but there is also a hetero romance.This is an affecting and heart-warming story. It's not for everyone due to the May-December aspect. But the emotions are so well-portrayed and the story is so well-written. It's a tear-jerker for sure. And I don't cry during most films/series that other people say affected them.
I loved all three characters. We could perhaps have done with a little more clarification about why May fell for December (other than sex)... had she not dated for years, and if not, why not? It's hard to imagine a much younger man providing enough interest for her--other than love and sex. I'm not at all saying it's not possible, just that we needed to see a bit more of her to understand why she fell so hard. I would have rated it 9+ if that had been included, even briefly.
May's wish for her son's desire to be fulfilled before he died was so moving. It was a brilliant lead-up and climax to the story. And this is where I couldn't stop crying, with sadness and joy.
I'm so glad I watched this even though it stills makes me sad when I think about it.
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Good !
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, but the movie had some flaws within it.for example, It didn't exactly finish the plot once introduced, which was a bit annoying as I found that the plot was quite an interesting one.
Another example was with Hur Hyun-jun, actor of Go Yoo Han, who's acting felt a bit tasteless, almost as though he didn't want to be there.
There was good Things about this movie as well though!
Such as the acting of Tae-ui Hong, whom plays Choi Yon Woo in the film. His Emotions throughout it are strong, showing signs of grief, happiness and other emotions beautifully.
The storyline and overall plot was great too, giving a good opening to the film.
Overall, a good watch if you're bored and want to watch something that has a light horror aspect to it.
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on a whole it was depressing & gloomy. the movie was separated into 3 acts.
the 1st half bored me out of my mind. Jan Wen walking around like a morbid, robotically depressed entity didn't arose my interest - heck i was bored out of my mind - zoning out, not even trying to bother & figure out WTH was going on, even though it was pretty straight forward so wasn't missing anything major (heck the 1st few sec already knew Xu Axing was infatuated with Jan Wen...) even before we find out he's gay.
the 2nd part was even more depressing, but at least wasn't bored - u got more of why Jan Wen walked around defeated (but for the life of me, i don't get how he goes from depressed bordering on total defeat / submission to despondency, to lets just randomly shoot people). isn't it more logical to shoot ones self & put an end to the suffering?!? u usually go shoot people cause u hate a group of people u think done u wrong - so this bit bothered me till the end.
the 3rd part was almost a rewind & re-figuration of the 2nd part - everything started off a bit different & Jan Wen chose a different path which is so much more optimistic & hope inducing until that bitter end (which makes u wonder; if someone is gonna have a bad end, is there a way to change that ultimate outcome or u doomed no matter what)...
*had to add, that i did feel sorry for Xu Axing who wasn't just infatuated but in-love with Jan Wen - after the lengths he was ready to go in the 2nd part. so even if he was ready to never admit this fact to his best-friend ever, it was all the more heartbreaking watching him long for something he would never have.
then come the after credits which left me "scratching my head" wondering WTF... so maybe i need to rewatch this a couple of time to get all the nuances / clues i missed the 1st time around. or need to understand Taiwanese let alone know more about the culture, but as this depressing & boring that wont be any day soon. ✌
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This review may contain spoilers
A beautifully sad tragedy
When we look at internationally acclaimed Filipino movies that have been released since 2019, we stumble across a bunch of young actors who I would call a ”golden generation”, because they all prove an outstanding talent as well as acting skills you simply wouldn't expect from actors below or in their early 20s. It all started in 2019 with ”Fuccbois” starring Kokoy de Santos, Royce Cabrera and Migs Villasis, ”Kalel,15” that was the foundation of Elijah Canlas' international career, and ”Metamorphosis” with a stunning performance by Gold Aceron.Then think of some of the most beautiful BL series, like ”Gameboys”, where Elijah and Kokoy helped people around the world endure the pains of Covid lockdowns, ”Gaya sa Pelikula” which made Paolo and Ian Pangilinan international stars, ”Meet My Angel 1 and 2” with wonderful acting by Kaleb Ong and Enzo Santiago, gay series like ”Love at the End of the World”, ”Daddy Love” and ”Papa, What is Love?” starring Rex Lantano, plus lots of short films with the actors mentioned above, and you'll understand why I'm talking about a ”golden generation” of Filipino actors.
Today, I'm reviewing another example of a high quality movie, ”May December January”, which makes Kych Minemoto join this exclusive club of Filipino ”golden generation actors”, and I'm soon going to review the next highlight, ”About Us But Not About Us”, again with Elijah Canlas.
I'll keep the summary of ”May December January” short because I don't want to spoil all the wonderfully written and acted scenes of this tragedy – and a tragedy it is! It is the story of Pol (Gold Aceron), who is terminally ill with a heart disease, and who lives with his mother Claire (Andrea del Rosario) in a beautiful house in a remote part of the mountains. Pol's best friend Migoy (Kych Minemoto) spends a lot of time in this house, and he falls in love with Claire. Their affair turns into mutual affection and love, which they hide from Pol first. But Pol, who is gay and has a secret crush on Migoy, finds out about his mother's relationship with his best friend Migoy. His reaction reveals deep sadness and at the same time a deep love of his mother.
When Pol's health deteriorates, with the prospect of a sudden death, Claire asks Migoy to have sex with Pol so that Pol can experience this feeling before he dies. Pol and Migoy's sex scene is the climax of the movie, the more so as the viewer senses that Pol will die very soon after. It's heartbreaking when he actually does, and Migoy and Claire's wedding at the end of the movie may be the saddest wedding ever seen in a movie.
The story may sound like the plot of a cheap porn movie, and it could have been something like that if it hadn't been written so sensitively so that the backstories and motivations of all three characters become completely understandable. Even the sex scenes aren't voyeuristic, but they rather illustrate the steps of the evolution of the protagonists' relationships.
The fantastic acting adds to the impression that we aren't watching a movie targeting the viewers' inferior curiosity, but a beautiful character study that makes the obscure situation in the secluded house in the hills an interesting story of love, yearning, and fulfillment, albeit with the most tragic ending thinkable. We believe that Claire is overwhelmed by Migoy's love confession, and we understand that she struggles with herself before she accepts her own feelings towards the young man. We also believe that Migoy isn't aiming at a quick conquest, and we suffer with Pol when he accidentally discovers what's going on in his mother's bedroom.
After Kych's convincing acting as effeminate Achilles in ”Gameboys 2”, I was sceptical about him playing a seductive, obviously straight young man, but it is an indication of his acting skills that he masters both, somewhat opposing roles convincingly. Gold personifies Pol's character equally credibly – he has a talent of intruding viewers' minds so that they fall in love with the character he plays (sorry, Gold's amazing presence as an actor carries me away sometimes).
Kych and Gold have beautiful scenes together which prove that their respective characters really love and care of each other. There is a scene when Pol tries to steal a kiss from Migoy when they sleep in the same bed, and Migoy's reaction on Pol's confession of his secret crush is just beautiful acting from both Kych and Gold.
When it comes to the cinematography, I think it matches the sensitive approach of the script, as it is very cautious about disturbing the characters' privacy, which may sound contradictive since there are very intimate scenes indeed, but the camera always keeps a distance, or the scenery is a semi-dark room.
The setting is beautiful, although I must admit that this may be my personal prejudice. I simply love a rural setting, and in this movie not only the seclusion of Claire and Pol's house, but also scenes in the forest are very much my taste.
All in all, this movie approaches a sensitive subject very cautiously, and script, directing, and acting make it a piece of art. If you prefer light entertainment, I would advise you to avoid this movie, but if you can cope with a beautifully sad tragedy, this will be one for you.
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PSEUDO HISTORY AGAIN
This movie is a whole mess, a total wrong doing.Lack of historical facts, lack of historical authenticity ( except that koreans were, and still are, so stupid that they didn't know any formation. In 1636.
This is one of the reason why Qing Dynasty dignified ruled in Korea, with a rightful conquest. In history, korea pretended to struggle, because they lacked any proper war tactics and techniques.
The movies shows that the fortress was an helpless way to struggle ( i would have preferred to show the General who fought after the King surrendered, to see Huang Taiji forgiving him and sending him back without any harm).
The King kneeling towards the rightful and good Great Qing could only be the only outcome.
They only accept their destiny of slaves, and it's not even nationalism of pride, it's even inferior that the ""Barbarians"" they fought, showing the real Barbarians is Korea itself.
And obviously, always cheering for our Great Qing.
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Insanely beautiful, a masterpiece in itself; this saga is one hell of a ride.
Everything has been said and done in almost all of the reviews so I'll keep this short.The main protagonist, Himura Kenshin’s journey remained unexpectedly strong in all five movies. As the protagonist, him alone has been a unique and enjoyable character to follow, both for his dangerous "jinchuu" messages and his iconic "Oro" expressions.
I was definitely immersed all the way while following Kenshin and Kaoru's journey of protecting their "truth" in all five movies. I'm afraid I'd have a hard time forgetting the other characters as well. I pretty much got attached to Sonusuke, Megumi and Yahiko and It will surely take a while before I could move on from this family. Not to mention the smooth transitions and epic action scenes, I'm already feeling the urge to rewatch. I truly commend the Directors for their amazing work.
Now for the negatives. IMHO, Tomoe and Battosai's tragic but beautiful mess of a past almost overshadowed the main OTP. Maybe if they added more scenes between Kenshin and Kaoru-dono, their OTP would’ve really made a stronger impact than the former. Although Ken-Kao made me swoon a lot, they felt more platonic than romantic at first. Also, it really felt like Kaoru was just there to be a damsel in distress in the movies.
However, while Kenshin and Kaoru rarely interacted, the way their relationship played out was unexpectedly heartwarming. In the end, I found the main OTP to be a lot more meaningful and fruitful especially after watching "Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning". It was so beautiful how Kaoru turned out to be Kenshin's salvation and hope for a peaceful future.
I'd still say I rated "Rurouni Kenshin: The Last Saga" higher but overall, it is undeniable that this has become one of my top favourites. Satoh Takeru's acting really made me love this series more than I should have. Now, I heard Kaoru's a girl boss in the anime and manga, so now I'm off to check them out.
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WHAT THE ' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ' SHOULD'VE BEEN ABOUT :)
One of the funniest and weirdest plots.This is the 3rd time I've come across such a movie, Taiwan really makes marvellous coming-of-age movies.
What an excellent movie it was.
With the bottom line message of :
You take your chances, and you pursue what you desire.
In dating, in life, in anything.
5 minutes is all you need, which turns to 5 days, to 5 years and so on. :)
Chen Bo Lin nailed his role.
Ivy Chen is one of my fav actresses of all time.
Her script selection is outstanding.
What a lovely movie, with a fantastic plot twist.
Although a bit overbroad,
This movie makes you realize how normal and mediocre each and every one of us is, in the race for standing out against each other.
The imperfections are what makes us, US.
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Brilliantly done movie about two people in love
From start to finish the movie main focus was just its two main leads. Perfect or not, it is a story of their love and how they get through life hardships while being true to their feelings. While this is definitely a LOVE Story, there is never a verbal mentioned of that word and yet you can feel the deep feeling of love that they have for each other through their expressions, actions and decisions. An otherwise simple plot can easily turn to a bore if it were not beautifully done with such amazing actors of leads and supports, beautiful cinematography, captivating dialogue and I am sure a lot more work of editing and other related works that goes into movie making, that made this movie such a delight to watch from begin to end. Kudos to all the actors, producers, directors and crews of this film. I thoroughly enjoyed its slow pace and focus. Though we wish it can be longer so we get a lot more screen time of the leads, the film still leave us satisfied. In 1 hour and 56 mins, the film managed to give a satisfiable closure to all issues it brought forward.Veteran actress Liu Dan was powerful as a mother that is traditionally biased but secretly caring. Sun Qian was perfect as a determined, strong and single minded young woman. But to me Zhang Xin Cheng was to one who nailed it all together. Not only because that was how his character was written, but because he played it so very well. He was 100% believable and relatable as the ever supportive Li Ran. Of course him being super handsome helps a lot but it was his speaking voice that was so perfect for the whole drama. When speaking, he managed to captivate and grab the audience attention, invoke feelings and that really seal the deal for the whole movie. Their chemistry were on point and with minimum contact and kissing scenes, they manage to get us rooted for their love. That there, were excellent acting.
To me this movie is a prefect 10 except for its music or songs. I am not a non speaking Chinese person so maybe I don't understand the songs to enjoy it but it wasn't the case sometimes. Anyway I still think this movie needs more love and support than what it is getting now.
EXTREMELY WORTH WATCHING.
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Song Yaxuan and Liu Yaowen chemistry here is insane!
Even within 14 minutes they topped most of the dramas that exist right now in terms of chemistry. Chinese bromance really just has that unspeakable tension. From every movement, action, word that comes from these two you can clearly tell their every feeling and emotion towards each other. I love how you can see how much they adore and cherish one another without anyone saying anything. There is so much detail form the way they treat each other and they way they look at each other, it truly makes your heart flutter even with no real romantic actions. From Liu Wen defending Song Xuan from bullies and Song Xuan helping Liu Wen with studying to being eachothers safe place, their chemistry is untouchable.Every little scene of them flows so naturally, from the boys to the music and background, props to editors and directors for creating the vibe of the film. I guess the reason why they seen so comfortable with each other because Song yaxuan and Liu yaowen have a close bond in real life, from members of the same band they grew up with each other and are practically brothers!
The only thing is I wish they made it into a longer series because there is SO much potential in their acting especially with each other. I watched this a few months ago but not a single days passes where I don't think about this SV. Sad thing is that they are idols not actors so a real drama with them is barely possible but nevertheless just shows how talented they are in multiple aspects. Anyways stan TNT!
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생일 축하합니다!
I haven't had my birthday celebrated for so many years. I can totally understand how you wait for that day to feel appreciated, and it turns out just like any other day that brings you closer to death and updates the count of "friends" who forgot about you.🔸️As for the movie, one major issue, in my opinion, is that the rhythm doesn't really change making it hard to feel where is the beginning, climax, and the end. The movie is too shy, too quiet, just like the main character, and I would like it to stir me up a little bit more. Otherwise, it's still bottled up and not resolved. Yet I like this short a lot for its beautiful picture, vibrant environment, and good acting. 응원합니다, 감독님!
If you want to watch this short film, contact the director through email and request the link politely. The email address is [email protected]. (It took about a couple of weeks to get a response on mine)
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