Reviews

In Strongberry we trust indeed!

As always, thoughts and opinions are all my own and not intended to offend anyone :) (let's be honest, this is just me rambling)

This was so adorable. As always, I'm sad it was a short and not an actual series, but it was a gorgeous little look into a budding relationship between two boys with secret feelings for one another. The acting was fantastic, and the set up/execution was just so natural.

Both leads felt very comfortable, if that makes sense? They seemed at ease and even though the film is so short, they made it feel real and relatable. I would love to see these two together again, in something longer.

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THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I WATCHED IN SO LONG

I watched this movie because of a tiktok edit yes kinda embarrassing but I am so glad, I watched it. I've never expected myself to like this movie as much as I did. I even maid my cousin watch it that's how obsessed I was with it. Anything related to someone getting bullied and them healing. I eat that shit up every-time. But this story it was something special the acting, the way the ml cared so much about her, It mean't so much to me. Also that one line in story where he says "You protect the world, I will protect you" HAS ME ON A CHOCK HOLD EVERY TIME OMGG. The only sorta complaint I got is the ending well personally I'm not a fan of bittersweet ending it could even be called an open ending. I've noticed a pattern that all the good things in media always have endings like this which makes sense because if there's a very specific ending people will always get hate for it example would be the author of AOT I totally recommend watching this movie, I wish I could watch it again or even see someone watch it for the first time.

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Sensível

Um filme que me disperou muitos sentimentos.
Pude me identificar com cada um dos personagens e seus desenvolvimentos.
Os atores fizeram um ótimo trabalho.
A história foi como uma dose de experiências de adolescência.
A fotografia foi confortável como um cobertor e refrescante como água gelada.
A trilha sonora perfeita, tenho uma admiração muito grande pelas músicas tailandesas.
Desde que vi o lançamento na Netflix fiquei pulando de alegria, infelizmente não temos (Brasil) muito acesso à obras tailandesas.
Espero ver mais obras tão incríveis quanto essa, que me fez sentir diversos sentimentos e amar tudo isso.
Toda a equipe fez um ótimo trabalho, muito obrigada. 💗💐

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A Smart, Funny, Wildly Original Cult Classic

I can see why this flopped in Korea when it came out 20 years ago, just as I can see why it was a huge success on the American College circuit back then. Indeed, it still plays at some colleges due to its strong cult following. It appeals to a certain crowd because it's smart, funny, original and, finally, wildly creative in the way it criticizes how capitalism tramples on both human rights and environmentalism. More than anything, it's just plain weird. And that's its charm.

The set up is pretty simple. A beekeeper thinks aliens are going to destroy the earth in 2 weeks during the lunar eclipse and that the alien leader hides among us disguised as the CEO of a vast chemical corporation. The beekeeper kidnaps the CEO and, together with his dimwitted girlfriend (who happens to be a circus tightrope walker), he commences to torture the CEO to glean information on how to save the planet from impending annihilation. The next 2 hours are a cat and mouse game between the beekeeper and the kidnapped CEO, while detectives search for them.

While one might think the film did not always succeed in tonal evenness because it vacillates between humor and violence, this was part of its brilliance. The viewer is not ever quite sure if they are supposed to be laughing at the hero for his ideas about aliens, alarmed by his violence, or sympathizing with him. But it's precisely this uncertainty that keeps us on our toes and gives an extra frisson to the viewing experience. We also don't know who to root for because as much as the CEO whom the hero kidnaps is a "victim" he is also the CEO of a chemical company notorious for polluting the environment. Moreover, he was shown in an early scene to be a rich jerk who stiffs poor working people like a cab driver. So we can't feel too much pity for this schmuck.

However, it's also hard to root for the hero because we simply are not certain of his sanity for most of the film. We don't find out if he's sane or not until the final 2 minutes. Keeping your viewer in doubt that long is a real risk, but the payoff was there when we got the answer at the end. I noted that some disliked the ending because it was simply too darn weird. But I see it as just one more of the film's riskier, wild, and out there twists. Besides, it afforded the single funniest line in the entire film when the guy said, "Of course I couldn't signal you, I had no hair!" You'll get the joke if/when you watch the film.

The film took a number of risks and nothing about it was formulaic. Indeed, I'd give it a 9.5 for sheer audaciousness alone. There must be others who agree, because Variety reported in February of 2024 that a Hollywood remake is in production with Emma Stone cast so far. I doubt it will be as good, so catch the original Korean version first.

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What a betrayal

Wow! Perfect story of manipulation and betrayal. Totally clear that you can be manipulated when it comes to assumption of trusting or liking someone you don't know fully. You really have to look in the mirror and ask yourself to get a clear mind of making the right choices and decisions with your life. She just realized that when she walked away from him in prison, lesson learned.
I really liked this kind of movies - suspense thriller. I was rooting for her and her friends at the yacht to save her or she would have been killed by Seong Yeol. At first, I was putting my trust on him too and thinking how he and her would get away with the murder or scheme after. Greed and revenge usually do not have good outcome. They will eat you up.

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Uneven romantic comedy

Wild Rose was a romantic comedy highly influenced by Japan's invasion of the country. The understandable propaganda due to the crisis, juxtaposed to the comedy could come across as a strange combination.

Wang Ren Mei made a delightful Wild Rose. Living in a small village with her father, Xiao Feng was vivacious and always with a smile on her face. Jiang Bo/Po, an artist from a wealthy family drives his fancy car into town and while painting pictures of the rural landscape becomes smitten with the wild girl. About this time Xiao Feng's father fights with a creepy old creditor who wants to buy Xiao Feng to square his accounts. Her father accidentally kills the man as the hut catches on fire. When he escapes and runs away it leaves Xiao Feng to believe he is dead. Jiang takes the newly orphaned Xiao Feng back to the city with him. He gives her a makeover before taking her home so that his father will accept her. After she commits a faux pas the father orders her out and Jiang went with her.

The coddled Jiang was introduced to how the other 99% live. With two low income friends they found a place to live already housing ten families run by a cranky landlady. Without his father's influence and connections, Jiang was unable to sell his paintings and turned to painting billboards. At first everyone was smiles and holding hands and then the unforgiving winter set in and the more unforgiving landlady. Playing housekeeping in poverty turned out to be a hardship with life and death on the line. Xiao Feng picked up a wallet dropped by a drunk but was chased by the police. Jiang and one of their friends take responsibility and are thrown in jail. Xiao Feng goes to Jiang's father, accepts full responsibility for his son's actions and promises to never see him again if he will save his son. Jiang's father agrees. Afterwards, Jiang and the boys search relentlessly for Xiao. In the end, when the movie takes a 90 degree turn, as support for the volunteer army is being drummed up, Jiang once again leaves home, this time for his country. In the recruiting parade are his old buddies and Xiao Feng. Even war can facilitate romance!

The print I watched was in bad shape with many scenes too dark to make out or cut off mid-frame. The acting overall was good, some better than others. This version had no music accompanying it.

Though it felt like we were supposed to side sympathetically, maybe even politically with the Wild Rose and eschew the filthy rich who focused on keeping the classes divided, the scenes involving the wealthy seemed lovingly luxurious. Only at the end when Jiang stepped away to pay attention to the volunteer parade did the oblivious dancing stop. The aristocrats seemed completely out of touch with what was going on in the streets. The military scenes and even the song and military inspection Xiao Feng performs with the children in her village could be jarring. "To love China is to love your mama!" Given their country was under attack it seemed reasonable to appeal patriotically to the audience even if it caused the movie to shift out of balance at times and could be heavy handed.

Wild Rose had some charming and inspiring moments interspersed, but overall felt uneven emotionally and narratively. As challenging as the degraded film could be to watch, most likely this is a film for silent film buffs or those who are fans of the director and/or cast.

5/11/23

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"Like teardrops, the petals from the peach tree fall..."

The Peach Girl was a tragic tale of forbidden love between the classes. Ruan Ling Yu and Jin Yan made for a beautiful and tormented couple in this classic silent film.

Miss Lim (Ruan) and her parents worked on a large property. When Lim was a baby her mother planted a peach tree saying it was a symbol of her child's life. If the little girl was good it would blossom. Lim and the owner's son, Teh En, became friends despite his mother's disapproval. Even at the tender age of five, love blossomed along with the peach tree. Teh En moved away, later returning as a young man. He and Lim reconnected and their love continued. His mother still did not approve. Teh set Lim up in an apartment and told her his mother was going to let them marry. This was a bold-faced lie because his mother was arranging another marriage for him. When Lim's father found out what was going on and that Lim was pregnant, he confronted Teh En's mother who offered to pay them off. Insulted, Lim's father refused the money and was fired for his efforts.

"A man's life might be easily altered by circumstances." Teh En begs his mother to let him marry Lim and she responds by locking him up in their mansion. This was more in mind than physically because she was half his size and constantly shaking from her opium addiction. He could have easily pushed past her at any time. Teh's mom is worried about their "social dignity" more so than their familial integrity. Teh believes that "wealth or poverty does not come between love" but in real life that isn't always true, especially when descending from wealth into poverty and for a man who never worked a day in his life.

While Teh's mom tries setting him up with other girls Lim has their daughter. By this time Lim's mother has died and her father has been blinded. Melodrama thy name is Peach Girl. Lim's landlady attempts to pimp her out to an old man but upon seeing the peach blossoms she determines to stay strong.

"Sickness invariably visits the poor and helpless" especially in a Chinese silent films. Lim lays dying and Teh finally gains enough courage to push past his overly dramatic mother to run and stumble and run and stumble and run and stumble to the woman he loves. With Lim's last breath Teh promises to live to take care of their child and stand up to his mother.

The intertitles were beautifully decorated and had dialogue in English and Mandarin. In the version I saw there were also simpler English translations beneath for some intertitles. The print I watched had no music. I've read that silentfilm.org has added music on a DVD they released. By this time in Hollywood most movies, with the exception of Charlie Chaplin movies, had sound. Possibly due to access issues, lack of theatrical infrastructure, and Japan invading Manchuria in 1931, the Chinese were slower to add sound. Many frames were badly faded but did not take away from my experience.

Ruan Ling Yu's expressive face and the timeless story adapted well to silent film making the story easy to follow. This was not the best performance I've seen by Ling Yu, at times it was hampered by the thick white theatrical makeup. Without the gift of spoken words, she still conveyed a wide range of emotion brilliantly emoted through her facial expressions and body language.

Peach Girl's story at this time in history feels overly familiar, but in 1931 might have felt fresher. Perhaps due to the hard times, the plight of an abandoned woman often left with a child and living in poverty was a common theme in many of the surviving silent films I've watched. More often than not the woman was criticized by society but not the filmmaker as the film called out for audience sympathy. In this film, the director and writer highlighted the discriminatory gap between the classes. "Class distinction does not exist among children." The lesson was nearly always learned after a high price was paid.

The Peach Girl was entertaining and worth checking out if you enjoy older films and Ruan Ling Yu's performances. The alternate title, Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood might have been more accurate for this film. "Observe how teardrops are petals of the peach tree…the peach tree speaks of love, of sorrow, and of tears."

5/11/23

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In what can only be described as the korean adaptation of the Nicholas Cage's Christmas classic The Family Man, Kwon Sang Woo's character gets a taste of what life could had been like if he had made different choices.

Switch (2023) captures the feeling of the original film and brings a new life, heart and laughter into the story. The director and writer, both, know how to make this adaptation feel fresh, even when it's a story we have seen before. The acting is the strongest point of the story, with everyone delivering their A+ game and making you feel everything their characters are feeling. The humor in this movie is also very good, so I am sure everyone can enjoy it.

Overall, I fully recommend it!

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100% Fun.

If you are craving for something "funny", then this movie is perfect for you. I literally paused it at certain parts cause I was unable to control laughing.
I began this after seeing that this movie had the same director as "Oh no! Here Comes Trouble", which had the perfect mix of mystery, bromance and comedy.
Secrets of The Hotspring gives you the exact same vibes, though it leans more towards comedy.

Xiao Gin, a delinquent new student, takes his two "frenemies" to his grandparents' "hotel". Things start to take an ugly turn when both his friends Little Princess and the sleep walking Lu Qun find out that something was very strange in their new getaway. And Gin's grandparents seems to be mysteriously hiding something...

The comedy is what I remember the most out of this, but it does have its share of emotional scenes, particularly for Xiao Gin.
The story is really cliched, but the performance of the actors and its hilarity makes up for it. The bromance between the three is to really cute and I loved watching them grow reluctantly closer.
7.5/10. I knocked off the score due to its predictability, but other than that, this was worth my time.

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Warm and fun

Following the structure of Love Actually but using quintessential korean elements, A Year End Medley follows a group of people learning to live through heartbreak and disappointment, first love and second chances, and figuring out the best way to support your friends.

This film knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. The director fully understand what needs to be done to get the viewer invested in every storyline. That's a difficult task when you have a cast as big and star-studded as this one, where everyone is bringing their A+ game. Even the random 30 second cameos that you don't expect are really fun to watch.

The music is fun and catchy, making you feel at ease and immediately in the happy holidays mood.

I really liked this film. It left me a big smile and a feel good warmth when it ended. I recommend it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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"...it's a woman who never falls down."

New Women was a radically feminist movie for 1935 and a bit of a real-life revenge flick as well. Moreover, it was also silent film star Ruan Ling Yu's next to the last film with an ending reflecting her own. Though heartbreaking verging on melodramatic at times, New Women also strove to normalize working and independent women and call out the men who preyed on them.

In real life, Director Cai Chu Sheng was rumored to have had an affair with left wing actress and writer Ai Xia. When Ai Xia was savaged in the papers over her private life, she committed suicide. This film was said to be inspired by her struggles. The film also explored the new roles women were taking on in society prompting New Women to be promoted as a film about "the woman question."

Wei Ming (Ruan) is a beloved high school music teacher and aspiring writer. She has written for a local paper and submitted a book to a publisher. Though she is drawn to her book editor he gently turns her down while still supporting her at the publishing house. She is pursued by Mr. Wang, a wealthy married man, the husband of an old school friend. He sabotages her at the school hoping to force her to turn to him. An editor at the paper also tries to seduce her while promising her more work if she is cooperative. Even the local pimp states that with money you can always cop a feel.

Our beautiful heroine is behind in nearly all of her bills. After being paid at the paper she buys a wobble doll with a female worker on top of the globe. She tells the book editor he'd like it because the doll never falls down. Wei has a female friend, Li Aying, who works at a factory and also teaches the women workers to sing songs about being strong and independent. Aying is in a similar boat financially as Wei. To add to Wei Ming's woes, her sister informs her that her husband has died and she must bring Wei Ming's secret daughter to come live with her. Upon her arrival, the daughter is coughing, a sure sign in a Chinese film that the child is dying. The hospital staff informs Wei that the child's pneumonia can be easily cured with the new antibiotics but she must pay upfront for the treatment and the women have nowhere near enough money even after pawning most of what they own. To compound her discouragement, Wei Ming notices the wall of medications and the ward full of empty beds at the hospital ironically named Philanthropy Hospital.

After trying every legal way she can to cobble together the money for her daughter's treatment, Wei's landlady who works with the local pimp tells her that by agreeing to prostitute herself she could earn more than enough money in one night. Regarding a woman's plight, she tells the younger woman, "What other path is open to us?" Desperate to save her child, Wei Ming agrees only to find her wealthy client is the dastardly Mr. Wang. She refuses him and knows that if her child dies, she will follow her.

The film was set in the 1920's as women were beginning to enter the work force causing pushback from the males in charge. As in most countries, women were often paid less, discriminated against, sexually harassed and assaulted with little recourse. Li Aying stated that the new woman is born from hardship. There were different kinds of women presented in the story. Wei Ming was intelligent and focused on earning money with her talent, not her body but because of her beauty and physical fragility the men in charge sought to take what they wanted from her. They used the resources at their fingertips to bring her down and punish her for not acquiescing to their sexual demands. In a time when it had to seem rebellious to the standard quo, she equated marriage with slavery for a woman and felt like one night of slavery prostituting herself would be better than a lifetime. Aying was tough mentally and physically and believed in the Left's view of equality. One of the greatest movie moments in history was when she headbutted a despicable lech---twice! Mrs. Wang was unwilling to rock the boat and risk losing her status and wealth via her close proximity to Mr. Wang's power, thus turning a blind eye to his wandering proclivities.

Ruan Ling Yu gave an enchanting and heartrending performance in a role that not only mimicked Ai Xia's life, but hers as well. When the movie was screened, the press took great exception at being portrayed so negatively and forced the director to make numerous cuts to the film. In retaliation, they printed salacious stories about Ruan which in combination with an ex-lover's lawsuit, possibly instigated by the press, drove her to commit suicide a month after the film's opening.

The movie had some primitive sound effects and dubbing over the intertitles. In the copy I saw, the music became quite distorted at times. Overall, the quality of the cinematography worked well as the director utilized the different camera tricks he had at his disposal. The ravages of time had done some damage to the frames, but not enough to become a distraction.

New Women attempted to break new ground by calling out predatory men and a predatory press. It also sought to give hope to those who had been knocked down one too many times even with the film's heartbreaking ending. When Wei Ming decided she wanted revenge on the men who had brought her low, Aying told her, "…to continue living is without a doubt the prerequisite for doing anything at all!" New Women could feel a tad propagandistic at times but for the most part portrayed women's struggles in the world, especially those who attempted to follow a dream, in a fairly realistic manner. Even after the "Me, Too" movement many decades later, women are still seeking respect and equality at work and in society. When a film entertains and causes the viewer to think, that makes it successful in my book.

5/10/23

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I'm so confused but I kept watching it.

If you are looking for a pure horror and suspense movie, this ain't it chief. I don't know if they intended it to be a lil funny (cause you know, the main character is a comedian) but it's a mixture of horror and comedy, as well as romance and action. I know, a lot of conflicting genre to this movie. But that's how it is.

The concept is good that's why I had high expectations about this movie. Sadly, it didn't achieve it. Maybe the non-closure of the homes is the reason for it? Sure, the plot didn't say that they'll gonna "solve whatever happened to the place" cause it's definitely not a ghost hunting story but transitioning to the other scene makes it difficult to understand.

Unlike other people (i've seen other reviews) i sorta liked the ending. Maybe because it's the only part of the movie that excites me lol That's the only part that caught my attention.. well.. disregarding the weird vfx from the incense (it was cool at first but doing it repeatedly is a lil cringey and doesn't really match up with the horror vibes.. but THEN AGAIN i don't know what genre this is categorized on) It reminds me of a Korean drama called "Sell Your Haunted House". ESPECIALLY the real estate agent? oof- (Yes, that one is a ghost hunting story and IT'S VERY GOOD– okay i'm not here to review that. I'm here to review Stigmatized Property. Let's go back –)

The acting is okay. Some people find the lead actress' acting obnoxious but it's an -eh- for me. Kame's okay. The rest is an -eh- too.

All in all, It's an okay movie. I don't really expect nor wish to have a remake cause it's an open-ended storyline. There's no proper ending for this so there's not gonna be an organized plot for it.

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