Reviews

No thoughts, just vibes

The moment I saw my girl Esom on the cast list, I knew I was in for some freaky shit I didn't know I wanted or needed, but suddenly its 2 AM and I'm clutching my pillow close to my face, giggling like a farting baby

Look, whoever is taking this movie so (sooooo) seriously needs to chill out. Writing wise, it's half-baked at best. Plot lines unresolved, random incest that has zero explanation, purpose or need, murky motivations and a narrative style that I personally enjoyed, but ultimately understand did nothing for the plot. And yet, I thoroughly, massively, obsessively enjoyed it. You know why?

It has got some KILLER vibes, you guys. Like, hahaha, but no seriously. The dialogue delivery is A+, the direction and cinematography was incredible, and my KRYPTONITE trope: yearning. Pining. Longing. All that good stuff, all rolled into one dynamic that had me salivating.

Kill/Gil Bok Soon as a character was perfect too, and I guess her daughter was okay, too. I like the way the mother-daughter tension was handled, and while I got frustrated at the way Bok Soon sometimes handled her child, I also understood that it comes from a place of trauma, where you want to understand and support your child but you have no clue how. I really enjoyed how Bok Soon battled personal demons not when spilling blood, but at the thought of exposing her daughter to the brutality that plagues her daily life. I found that a really striking reflection of how generational trauma manifests in a parent-child relationship, where you have so much to hide from your child because you want to protect them but ultimately make decisions that end up pushing them away. I'm glad that the movie spent time on that because I could not give less of a crap about her "event planning"- I knew what I signed up for.

Of course, be warned that the movie will unecessarily raise questions that they do not even, for a fly's blink of a nanosecond, begin to address. The first two times you will be confused but will reassure yourself that over 60% of the movie is left. Over time, when you throw hands at the tenth question the movie will tease you into wondering (that you never even thought in the first place! But now it's in your head and it's a plot hole!) you will realise the movie is over and you're done :/

Gratifying, it is not.

Overall: Watch it for the vibes, which is what I did, and you will love this movie to bits!

Read More

Zombie Survival Done Right

For something that I expected to fall off short, I'm still in awe of what I saw. Sure, I've heard a lot of praise about this movie, but at the end of the day, it's just another zombie survival, how good can it get?

I take it back. How good can it NOT get?!

When even Hollywood can't sell off a plot with its seemingly unending budget, you'd think nobody else can. Well, I guess I'm stepping into a territory where nothing of that matters.

This movie had everything, cast, plot, budget, and most importantly, it was enjoyable. The acting was superb, I really connected with all characters. The gore as unforgiving, and the stakes were racing the high skies. This is a really special experience as a first-time watch, and ever more so as rewatch material.

Read More

Adorable film!

I absolutely loved this movie. It was so much fun and so cute. Na Moon Hee is such a great actress. Seeing her in the role of grandmother and feeling like a burden to her family, yet so in love with all of them wanting nothing but the best for them, was nearly heartbreaking to me. But this movie is a comedy and it is really packed wit laughs. You'll get a couple hours of fun for sure.
I have to type 500 characters and I have no idea how many I have so far so I'm just going to type more but not related to the movie since I said all that needs to be said in that first paragraph.

Read More

If you need to know, this is a 14 minute short story about a boy who has just moved into a new city, Chongqing, and feels out of place. He, by a turn of events, gets to know the "gangster type" dude in his same class. Though, they begin on a not so friendly note thanks to their prejudices, they slowly develop a bond that is hinted to be a strong one.
This was directed to promote members of TNT - Teens in Times, and they did a fairly convincing job. (To me at least.) It was cute, though I don't know what's up with the English title when the native one is a simple "Let's Wait for the Rain to Stop".

Read More

Everybody has a history in their life, unless you know them from the baby & follow every thing that they do, never judge people from their past.

Just like AthenaTheStorierX wrote. This will be much more enjoyable if the story had more focus on the FL & her friend. Or if they just steer the plot better, with better ML whose even though know his wife past he still stand by her side not just judge her instead.

Really hate this kinda plot, where someone judge us by our past. Especially here they also talked how biased man & the worst kind of prejudice against woman can be. Men can be 'naughty' but want their woman remain pure, or in this case the 'pure' man get 'pure' woman. & to make it the story even worse the man keep listen to stupid advise his friend give him.

Just like Shiro, I also want to kick the man in the ball & give him just 1⭐But I also really like the FL & her friends. So yeah 5⭐ for all I guess...

Read More

"The Cop" is Super Annoying

This movie is entertaining thanks to the acting. "The Gangster" Ma Dong Soek is fantastic as usual and the actor playing "The Devil" Kim Sung Gyu is brilliant. I havent seen him in anything else but I will. There really are just evil people in the world. Kinda wished they would have given a little more background on the killer's motivations other than the standard abused as a child scenario. I thought they showed he might have been married but then didn't expound on that. "The Cop" was super annoyng and really got on my nerves from the moment he stepped on the screen.

This is overall an enjoyable film and the ending was perfection!

5/22/23

Read More

Very disappointing follow up to a very good drama (minor spoilers)

All the interesting characterization from the drama is turned into a bunch of boring cliches and two of the best characters from the drama aren't really in the movie. Tae-soo (Jo Dong Hyuk) shows up for two seconds, showing he's "found God" (?) and that's why he isn't participating in bringing bad guys to justice. Jung Moon (Park Hae Jin) isn't even mentioned. They are replaced by "hot girl whose crime is scamming scummy men with her hotness" and "maverick, gifted young detective" whose crime was a criminal dying from a heart attack while he was chasing them. Which neatly takes the basic story line of"these are hardened inhuman criminals who are making up for their heinous crimes by catching other hardened inhuman criminals and so regaining some of their humanity" , WHICH WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE DRAMA and throws it in the trash. There is no character development, no reason to care about any of the characters and is honestly just boring. It's almost like the creators of the movie thought people liked the drama because of the fight scenes and not because of the complex, extremely flawed characters and the interesting plot. An utterly baffling "sequel".

Read More

Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning from The Untamed!!!

The Untamed Spinoff : The Living Dead is a great spinoff for continuing the story for Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui!
Definitely worth to watch movie for anyone who has watched The Untamed, but especially to those who just love Wenning or Lan Sizhui.

THE STORY:
Wen Ning arrives to FuFeng, a town where people do not light candles at night as there is a ghost killing people with a light on. Wenning plans to capture the ghost, when in the middle of the fight, he meets with Lan Sizhui, (Wen Yuan, his cousin's son, who is now adopted into the Lan Clan). Together they decide to investigate the matter on hand.

MY OPINION:
I am maybe biased for liking this movie to the point i will give it a 9,5. The characters Sizhui and Wenning are one of my favorites, and the cameo of Wei Wuxian makes it even more emotional for me. As someone whose favorite drama of all time is The Untamed, naturally I am happy to see continuation of their stories. The GCI wasn't that bad, but naturally it's on the low budget side. I personally loved the investigation of these two, seeing how much Wen Ning has matured and how he has gotten more independent. It shows how Wenning is still struggling with his identity of being a puppet and Wei Wuxian reminding him that he is more than that.

ACTING:
Yu Bin as Wenning and Zheng Fanxing as Lan Sizhui, as always they bring out the best of these two characters, and I was so happy to see them for a longer time in this movie.
Gao Han as Xiao Yi, a new character in this universe, acting as a demonic cultivator who killed the Xiao household. Amazing performance from him as a bad guy of the story!

Read More

The Nie brothers of the Untamed!

The Untamed spinoff: Fatal Journey is worth to watch for anyone who loves The Untamed and especially the Nie brothers.
When starting the movie, you got to give it some slack since the movie is only under 1h 30 mins long. The budget is on the low side, but if you really like the story of The Untamed, it helps you understand Nie Huaisang better. I suggest watching The Untamed fully to be able to understand anything in this movie.

STORY:
This movie tells about the relationship of the Nie brothers, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang.
The story is about Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang and Nie clan's disciplines going to their Sword Sacrificial hall, the Nie clan's ancestral hall for their clan's sabers. The brothers need to seal their clan's sword spirit, as it is creating trouble.

MY OPINION:
The story itself is okay, I liked seeing Jin Guangyao, Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue again. We get some more background info on Nie Huaisang's and Nie Mingjue's relationship. We get to understand how important Nie Mingjue really is to Nie Huaisang and how intelligent he really is. I was a little disappointed on how Nie Huaisang found out about Jin Guangyao being the bad guy. The movie felt a little boring to me, as I felt like there was not much going on. Everything was dealt quickly except for the fight scenes. I wish there was more interaction between the brothers and Jin Guangyao instead of them running from danger in their sword sacrificial hall. The CGI was not great, and I wasn't a fan of the CGI on the instruments when they were playing.

I would give it a solid 7.

Read More

A movie not recommended for fragile hearts

Despite all the disclaimers and notices stating that it's gonna hurt , I eventually watched it on a saturday night alone :')

I guess I wanted to challenge myself not to cry no matter what but ... I guess you can tell what happened. I literally cried my balls out for the last 30 minutes nonstop. It's been so long since I sobbed so loud when crying, to the point that I lost breath! (Yes it's this serious)


Indeed all the actors did great but my hat goes off to Tooru especially. I cried for him. It's true, that the story is about Hino but it was Tooru who struggled the most. He is the pitiful one. The poor guy didn't have a single happy day in his life and when Hino came in it, things were starting to change and we would see a glimpse of hope but hey how would the writers and director make me cry then :')

I knew it since the first scene in the film, that Tooru won't be around anymore! but throughout the movie, I begged for them to "save" him! However, it won't be called a plot twist this way. Yes! It was a plot twist (though I won't call it that way for me because I was expecting it). Because you would get immersed in Hino's story that you won't notice what's coming.

My heart ached for Tooru not Hino.
Nonetheless, I loved the movie!

Just a small advice: don't watch it on a working day, your eyes will be puffy next morning :)

I rated the "Rewatch value" low because I WON'T watch it again! don't wanna cry my heart out again! NEVER!

Read More

No good deed goes unpunished

Three Outlaw Samurai was an entertaining samurai film that supplied plenty of action and more than a few laughs. It felt like a smaller scale Seven Samurai with three samurai who come together to try and save impoverished peasants from a callous magistrate.

Shiba Sakon is a wandering samurai looking to find shelter for the night when he comes across a woman's hairpin in the road. An old mill is nearby and either weariness or curiosity compels him to go there. He finds three desperate peasants holding the local magistrate's daughter hostage. Suffering and dying because of recent crop failures, they want to force the magistrate to reduce their tax burden and help them out. Shiba gives them some hostage taking guidance and evens the playing field while they are in negotiation, or more accurately, fighting for their lives. The magistrate orders a samurai named Kikyo, who has been taking advantage of his food and lodging, to resolve the issue for him after his attempt to rescue his daughter and slaughter the peasants failed. Sakura Kyojuro, a vagabond samurai sitting in jail, is recruited by the magistrate along with three murderers to help Kikyo. Sakura grew up as a peasant farmer and quickly changes sides when he finds out what their real mission is. Kikyo, the "Freeloader" as Shiba dubs him, appears to do as little as he can in the distasteful situation.

After a time Shiba is able to reach a deal with the magistrate. He will take the peasants' punishment, 100 lashes, if the magistrate agrees to release him afterwards and spares the peasants. He makes the magistrate samurai pinky swear to uphold the agreement. The magistrate breaks the samurai code and starts having the peasants murdered and a post-torture Shiba thrown into a water dungeon. The local clan lord is arriving soon and the magistrate doesn't want him to know how incompetent he is and also doesn't want the peasant's petition to reach him. He unwisely sends killers after Kikyo which causes the high maintenance samurai to firmly change sides. Now the team is assembled.

This was director Gosha Hideo's first feature film and he nailed it. Narratively, the story flowed and he knew when to pause and when to set the fights in action. Betrayal, corruption, social class antagonism, and even a little redemption arch kept the pauses from being too slow. At its heart, the film was the ancient tale between good and evil and how much or any people are willing to sacrifice for justice. The cinematography, framing and editing all looked great.

The cast was strong with each samurai being his own man. Shiba and Kikyo shared their motivating influences in this exchange. Shiba told Kikyo, "You calculate the gains and losses too much." To which Kikyo responded, " You don't calculate enough." Sakura was a round deadly teddy bear. Though all ended up being likeable, they had their flaws. My biggest complaint is that the band took too long to get together. These actors had a very nice chemistry. Three Outlaw Samurai was a prequel for a tv drama series by the same name that the same actors would star in. My only other complaint would be that the women were portrayed poorly, most were clingy and/or flighty.

The fights tended to be quick and brutal. A number of people only seeking a better life and trying to do the right thing were cut down. A running fight scene was exhilarating and at one point I thought the guys were going to pull a Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid stunt. After a betrayal and during a huge fight, a character tells Shiba, "You have to kill me!" Shiba sardonically replies, "I'm kind of busy at the moment." It's those moments of levity during a deadly fight against superior numbers that balances the mood of the film.

Despite the dynamic trios' efforts and good deeds-Shiba's torture, Kikyo's character growth, and Sakura's desire for redemption, and the small battles won, the intransigent nature of the corrupted caste system prevailed over justice. In the end, Shiba's idealism and swift sword were unable to cut through the status quo or embolden the peasants' courage. But at least he did not have to suffer his loss alone, he gained two friends to wander the path of the adventurous ronin. Three Outlaw Samurai was not a deeply layered story, but it was an entertaining and fast paced samurai film that fans of the genre might enjoy.

5/20/23

Read More

Happy Madness Ending

Some would say this doesn't have a happy ending, but to someone who has gone thru the same and much worse this is indeed a happy ending, seeing the intern killing all of them and getting away with it, that felt good not great but good, she didn't go thru that much, but still she was mistreated and they didn't respect her and got another intern, so she can't be blamed for what she did even if it's wrong.
Over the last 6 years of working I have gone thru the same things, I didn't even stand up for myself at the beginning and was used and took advantage of cause they thought I can't stand up for my self, till i had enough of it and I faced them and then they started respecting me and knew my worth, but I'd always leave the place after a year or so cause I don't like to become as filthy as they are or in her case become a murderer 😂

Read More