Reviews

Beautiful story of group of people that becomes a family

This is my first Kore-eda film and it was beautiful.

I actually did not expect the story to move really well considering this is what most considered an art film but I enjoyed watching it.

The story of giving up your baby or abortion, that's what has been tackled here as well. Controversial as we have all different beliefs. I think the director has managed to execute the story that will make you think of different povs regarding the topic.

The cast have good chemistry and a joy to watch. The way they have eventually become a make-shift family and wanted the best for Woosung. They all have their own agenda but at the end, there's goodness in everyone.

This movie has lots of gray areas and I think that's the intention of the director. People do things and it's easy to judge but a person is not only bad or only good.

Some of the concerns I have are the sub-plots which I think are not really explored properly but these are negligible and did not take away from the story the director wanted to tell.

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"I love a challenge!"

Magnificent Warriors was a fun and fast adventure starring Michelle Yeoh. Set after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Michelle, Richard Ng, and Derek Yee had to come to the aid of a small walled village when the enemy decided to use the area and the people to build a poison gas factory. Little did the Japanese army know what they were up against when Michelle landed her biplane outside the city.

Michelle's Ming was a pilot who traded in all sorts of goods including weapons. The granddaughter of famed fighter Grandfather Fok played by kung fu movie regular, Ku Feng, she enjoyed using her whip, fists, and kicks to clobber men who tried to take advantage of her. Ming was commissioned by rebel forces to find Agent 001, a rather bland Derek Yee, and also to bring the Kaal village leader, Youda played by music director and composer Lowell Lo, to safety and discover the Japanese plans. Ming's mission was diverted when a nameless traveling conman played by Richard Ng was mistaken for 001. The matter was cleared up soon enough and before long they had Youda and his lover, Chin Chin played by Lau Chin Dai, with them. Ming needed gasoline to fuel her plane which took them into the heart of the Japanese camp which led to the fights and battles that would follow.

This was my second viewing of the movie. Unlike most of these experiences, I actually enjoyed it more the second time I watched it. Mood makes a difference, I guess. While the story was told haphazardly at times, what the film did do well was show off Michelle Yeoh's screen presence and athletic skills. Her fights and enthusiastic attitude lifted the movie when she was onscreen. Some of Richard Ng's early comic scenes dragged on too long, but as the film progressed so did his character's development which made him more appealing and sympathetic. Derek Yee was there, completely overshadowed by almost every other character onscreen. Chin Chin could be annoying, but the character's loyalty kept her from being loathsome. Lowell Lo's Youda, also there for comic relief, was able to have a couple of scenes showing the depth of his love for his people. The pacing could be uneven and answers appeared out of nowhere. All of the characters were archetypes, quite thinly drawn, leaving it up to the viewer to fill in the gaps. The writers tried to remedy this and actually just reinforced their stereotypes when they used a scene where the dynamic group was about to be executed to reveal the three main characters' backstories in an awkward exposition dump right before the miracle that saved them.

The fight scenes were all quite fast and innovative. Michelle was daring in her ability to do her own stunts and as always made the complex moves look effortless. Her early fight with some shady characters over lack of payment was stunning as she used her whip and then quite gleefully a gatling gun. Later, when the Japanese attacked, the Kaal villagers fought with spears and old school ways against the modern weapons of their invaders. The balance of humor and pathos could tip too far with humor when villagers were being killed during the battle. The only scene that didn't work well for me was early in the film when Ming and her biplane were involved in an aerial battle with a Zero. It went on too long and wasn't that interesting. The film utilized several actors and stuntmen I enjoy watching. I was happy to see "Toad Venom" Lo Meng as a silent guard. Fung Hak On, who helped choreograph the fights, showed his fighting skills as a Japanese agent. And Hwang Jang Lee finally had the opportunity near the end of the film to show off his superkick abilities. While the humor could be forced, the final skirmish was a local one that had high stakes for the people involved which weighted the fights with meaning.

Though the villagers and characters suffered consequences for going up against the Imperial army, Magnificent Warriors took a light tone with no spewing blood and severed bodies. The main characters never felt like they were in any real danger as they quipped and smiled through the mayhem. This was Michelle Yeoh's movie and she gave it her all. Magnificent Warriors may not have been magnificent, but it was pretty good.


3/24/23

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it contains trigged incidents so like be careful

I started to watch it out of curiosity like what the end would be like and what's the purpose at that I didn't know what I have signed up for , it's extremely creepy and nerve wracking story of a soul and haunting everyone and a producer who wanna reveal the reality but can he ??
I thought it would be crime thriller but tbh thekorean horror genre gives me chill every time I watch it it's very much likely to watch but please in day time , it's scary !! ,
the characters are well written but it's kinda blurry like what happened after that , what's the purpose where that man vanished, why he did this , this kinda questions are required to know itgeriits a good series

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Amazing fights and visuals, disappointing otherwise

It was a surprise for sure.
1) The movie looks shockingly good. Yes, it was supposedly made for cheap, there are some instances of visibly lacking CG. But the way it's lit, shot, coloured etc. - amazing. Stuff is clear, visible, intentional, pleasant to the eye. Looks a lot like a 90s movie, but with a wider palette.

2) It's, unfortunately, a black tanktop vanity project for Donnie Yen. The guy cannot pass for a man in his 30s, effectively half his real age. Yen also does not have the acting range needed for this kind of character.
The funny/lighthearted parts are not that funny or lighthearted and the serious moments are awkward, feel extremely long and overly pathos-filled. (for an example, time the wine-bowl scene. That could've easily been edited down some, with more of an emotional impact.)

3) The story is whatever. The more wuxia/series movies I watch, the more I realize I don't enjoy Jin Yong/Jin Yong-style stories. It is what it is, I'm sure fans of the book are outraged about stuff.

4) The fights however, are incredibly good. Excellent, thrilling, fucking cool as hell. If you looked at the 90s wuxia and imagined a logical evolution with advances in filmmaking, this is what it would be.
No notes.
(also goes to show what you can do on a budget if you have real martial artists instead of celebrity idols in your cast)
Whatever the fuck the new Kung Fu Cult Master did with the flashy CG bullshit, this is the opposite of that.

5) Minor point, but I really enjoy this "gritty" portrayal of the jianghu people. Everyone's wrinkly, greasy and rugged. The costumes are very different looking and quite lovely.
It's not quite The Blade, but it's miles and miles from the usual "wuxia" you see in cdramas nowadays.

Overall: Meh, but watch it for the fights.

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sweet movie

I had a difficult time not comparing this to Always (the Korean version). The actors/characters in Always are older, so I think I related more to that one because the main characters seemed lonelier, and I appreciated them finding one another more. The thing that really stuck out in this version, when he was trying to convince her to have the surgery, he was talking to her about being able to see her children. When he talked, it was like he was talking about her marrying someone else and having children. In Always, he asked her "what about when WE have babies" - that touched me so much more.

Yokohama Ryusei and Yoshitaka Yuriko both did a good job and were cute together. The actor that played his coach overacted quite a bit and that was bothersome for me.

The bonus for me was the BTS song Your Eyes Tell.

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What's love got to do with it?

Pearl Chang Ling starred as the Invincible Swordswoman, or in this movie's case, The Heavenly Swordswoman Pai Yu Sung. This wuxia had it all-death, revenge, multiple betrayals, disguises, and unrequited love. Death and maiming occurred via swords, bamboo spikes, poison darts, and iron hands. And what would a Ming Dynasty martial arts movie be without a duplicitous and deadly eunuch guiding the evil events?

Pai Yu Sung had disappeared after the death of her father by the Eunuch Ma Tang. She returned as the man Pai Tong about the time the bad guys were searching for her to kill her and the good guys were searching for her to help them. Tu Yueh Pian hated and loved her. When they were young he'd been obsessively in love with her and wanted to be close to her, resulting in their master blinding his one eye when he tried to take advantage of her. Yung Tsin Tsin, Tu's old classmate wanted Pai dead because she was in love with Tu and was obsessively jealous of the great swordswoman. The Eunuch Ma Tung who had Pai's father killed wanted her dead as well because he thought she was a threat to him. The woman had more enemies than she knew what to do with. A strange beggar named Lee Chiu ended up taking her side and watching her back.

A kung fu tournament was held to try and draw Pai out. It would be a chance for the bad guys to kill her and the good guys to use her to take a secret box with evidence against Ma Tang to the proper authorities. The tournament was held on a spectacular set built of bamboo spears. The combatants had to fight using the weapon of their choice on the top of the spears. Lo Lieh showed up with a metal hand that had an endless supply of poison darts. After winning her fights, Pai met with the young master Wang to take possession of the secret box and the betrayals, impersonations, poisonings, and killings began in earnest and did not end until the final credits.

Pearl made for a confident swordswoman who was seeking justice for her father. Cliff Lok as Lee/Ni Chiu, at first seemed to be the comic relief but evolved into one of the most important and sympathetic characters. Tsung Hua's Tu Yueh Pian, was far from sympathetic and I'm still not sure what the writer wanted us to feel about him. His angry obsessive "love" seemed to only make Pearl and me feel repulsion. Chiang Ming's Ma Tang came across as almost super human with a magical throne. Yueh Hua had brief appearances at the beginning and the end of the film. Fan Ling as the jealous Tsin Tsin swung her sword with authority as she grudgingly gained respect for Pai and sided with her in the battle against Ma.

Most of the sword-fights were quite good for this era, a little above swing and fall. There was quite a bit of wuxia light body work, aka wire-fu, for those who are averse to it. The tournament on bamboo spears occupied much of the middle of the film and used diverse enough skills to keep it interesting along with several subsequent impalements. And then as now, when a cross-dressing character's hair was let down, everyone knew Pai Tong was a woman. Men had long hair as well, so I've never figured that one out, but those are the genre's rules. The final battle was one of skill and heart as the good guys fell at an alarming rate against the invincible Ma's three sword attack. Almost no one walked away into the sunset after this movie's blood baths.

I quite enjoyed Pearl's performance and surprisingly for me Cliff Lok's. The fights were fast and entertaining with enough carnage to make them credible even with the moments of flight. If you enjoy old martial arts films, this is one to try. As always, I grade these low budget niche films on a curve.

3/22/23

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Would not have watched if I'd known the ending

Great visuals
Great cinematography
Wonderful revision of the musical - Sound of Music. Very creative and artistically done.
The practice scene with ML playing the maid was darn cute and hilarious.

The villagers were all true to nature and underplayed.
The high schoolers could have gone overboard but they were very well contained.
The Seoul high schoolers were clichéd but you have to forgive them for their short appearance.

The FL was sweet, and did a nice job.
But obviously, Hyun Bin walks away with your heart.

I found this movie on some list which claimed to be Top 100 korean movies of all time.
Didn't want to watch a 17 year old movie, but whatever, I said I would turn it off in 10 mins.
That must have been the era when it was trendy to have these heart wrenching, sad romances.
It's too clichéd now - maybe they could remake it with a happier ending.
So thats why I rated it low.

However - I can't stop thinking of Hyun Bin.
My first drama with him was in his forties, and found him not -bad.
Then I watched Secret Garden and adored him for his c omic timing.
Now this - in his early twenties- I've fallen in love with this actor!!

Wow.........what acting chops, what talent. His eyes do all the speaking - and the dimples don't hurt@

Congratulations Sir for excelling in your art!

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Don't mess with her sister!

A Girl Called Tigress, a typical low budget Taiwanese kung fu flick, had a few things working in its favor. Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng played a dual role, Kurata Yasuaki delivered his usual menacing villain role, and before he was typecast in villain roles, "Mallet Fist" Chin Kang played a good guy. There was even a semblance of a story that wasn't based on a secret list!

Polly played Shu Fung, a hot headed martial artist who was searching for her mild mannered twin sister, Mishi. When she stopped on her journey for a quick bite to eat she was accosted by several thugs. Big mistake on their part. After Polly had a table flipping, face kicking good time, the thugs ran off with their tails between their legs. Per usual, thugs in martial arts movies have plenty of other jerks to call on and they waited for her in the woods. As she was holding them off, Chin Kang arrived to help her out. Everyone thought she was Big Bad Chiau Kung's woman, who of course turned out to be her sister. Chin Kang was in town to solve a murder and several thefts. Mishi, the twin sister, had gotten into a "Runaway Joe" situation when she left her family to be with A Chung, the unlucky thief who died at the hands of Chiau Kung. Chiau had kept Mishi locked in his compound ever since. Eventually, all the parties collided as Shu Fung attempted to free her sister from Chiau and Chin Kang sought the evidence to arrest Chiau on, while Chiau and his gang tried to kill all the other parties involved including a rival boss who owned a brick kiln where the goods had been hidden! Suffice to say, there were plenty of fights!

Lung Fong's and Leung Siu Chung's fight choreography was kick heavy and Polly was athletic and fierce enough to keep up. Kurata was fast and as always, fun to watch. Chin Kang's size and surprising agility along with his meaty fists made for entertaining fights as well. I was pleased that Polly's character was able to dish out the final vengeance instead of leaving it to the larger Chin Kang. The cast boasted a large number of actors who could double as stuntmen and they made the hits and kicks convincing as they flew and tumbled backwards. The final long fight's choreography was done well enough to make it believable, not an easy task when having an actress spar with Kurata.

Polly played cocky in a way that wasn't a turnoff and took no prisoners with her attitude. Chin Kang made for a likeable good guy. He, like Lo Lieh, would end up largely typecast as villains during their careers. Kurata Yasuaki, a real-life karate expert, played menacing and skeevy like no one else.

This movie will not go down as a great kung fu flick or even one of Polly's best, but it delivered what it promised-double the Polly and almost non-stop action with a mostly coherent story. For fans of Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng and old martial arts movies that's usually enough.

3/22/23

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Beautiful story

I just finished watching this movie for the second time and it was wonderful. I felt kind of like I was a voyeur into their lives. I normally don't care for films that are dark in appearance, but I really appreciated how the cinematographer used a lot of dim lighting, as well as rain and overcast days throughout most of the movie, until after her surgery. I also really liked the close-up work on the actors' faces, it almost gave the feel that we were visually impaired and had to get close to see. At the beginning, I loved how the camera work showed the ML watching for the FL. No words, just us seeing what he was looking at, looking at the doorway, watching the driveway.

Acting/characterizations:
So Ji Sub as Jang Chul Min. I'm a big fan of this actor, and I thought he played this character very well. The darkness, sadness and loneliness of his life were almost palpable. It seemed like he was in sort of a self-imposed hell. When she came along, it was as if, first he didn't know what to make of her, and I felt that brief moment of him trying to decide whether to open up to the lightness of the FL. Chul Min was a troubled soul, but so caring. Once he committed to her, he was all in.
Han Hyo Joo as Ha Jung Hwa. She was terrific! I would imagine it would be very difficult to play a blind person, but she nailed it. Her character was so refreshing. Brilliant smiles, a happy and playful personality despite her difficulties. I really liked her speech pattern when she was getting to know him - she spoke quickly, almost shooting out questions abruptly. There was no artifice to her, you knew what she felt at every moment.

Chemistry:
Their chemistry was very sweet. They moved naturally from strangers to lovers. It was like they had been waiting for one another for their whole lives, and now that they'd found each other, they weren't wasting any time. We were on their journey with them, their voyage of discovery.

Fight scenes:
Well done, very hard to watch. Him getting pulled back into that life was sad, even if it was for a good reason. That said, him exercising shirtless was worth the price of admission! That man is ripped!

Ending:
Oh, my goodness, when they cross paths again, my heart broke for him. Him not talking so she wouldn't recognize him, he was back to his cold and lonely life, and it was painful to see him resigning himself to his old life. However, there is a happy ending, though it's too brief. I don't know why the endings of Korean dramas are so rushed.

Bottom line:
If I had to sum up this film in one word, I'd have to say "comforting".

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Good acting, stunning sets but too much action and not enough focus on characters' psychology

"Home Coming" is a Chinese movie that centers around embassy staff aiding their fellow citizens in evacuating from a fictional North African country during a time of war. The movie boasts visually stunning sets that provide a captivating ambiance. The acting performances by the main leads are impressive and bring depth to their respective characters.

However, the plot of the movie does not give the characters enough development (there is some but clearly not enough, we are left wanting more ... instead of brainless action scenes). The focus on action over character development may not satisfy viewers seeking a more psychological and character-driven experience. A greater emphasis on exploring the relationship and psychology of the two main leads would have added greater depth to the plot.

Another issue with the movie is the lack of English subtitles, which may pose challenges for non-Chinese speaking viewers. It is worth noting that I had to rely on Whisper Speech to Text AI engine (with VAD) to obtain the english subtitles, which may not be as accurate as human translation.

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Tony Jaa delivers a trunk load of Muay Thai fun!

The Protector packed a trunk load of action into a short amount of time. Protector Tony Jaa proved he was up to the tusk when he traveled to Sydney to find his stolen elephants. Ivory few minutes there was a bone crunching action scene with a ton of flipping, twisting and leaping. I promise I'll stop with the elephant puns now.

Tony played Kham one of the Muay Thai trained protectors of the elephants that may serve the king. During a celebration, the bull elephant and his calf were stolen and taken to Australia. Kham arrived in Sydney and ran afoul of the law almost immediately. He was fortunate that one of the police officers was Thai and believed his story. Unfortunately for that cop, he was framed for murders the triad committed.

Most of the story was filled with contrivances that were best not looked at too closely. The main thrust of the story was that Kham was willing to go through anyone to find his elephants. This movie was all about the action scenes, and on action scenes, it delivered. The bad guys had an entire army of fighters. Fighters on skates, bikes, motorcycles, armored four-wheelers, with fluorescent bulbs, knives, guns, statues, whips, and/or swords. Tiny Tony also faced seven-foot giants. There were chase scenes involving speed boats and helicopters. There was an intricate scene filmed in one long shot as Kham fought his way through the bad guys' den up several levels of stairway. Though there were numerous long action scenes, none of them felt repetitive. Each setting had its own fight mood. Whether it was Road Warrior futuristic mayhem or meditative murder in a Buddhist temple, each fight brought its own style and weaponry. It would be hard to overstate how amazing the actions scenes were. Jaa was incredibly athletic and acrobatic, doing stunts others would need obvious wire-work or CGI to accomplish. To quote a character from the television show The Wire, "That was some Spiderman sh*t!"

Aside from the narrative issues, the dubbing for this movie was terrible in places. It strained imagination to believe Kham was in Australia with some of the "Australian" accents. Bad guys and bodies appeared and disappeared along with story cohesiveness. The acting was serviceable, as long as no one had to say too many lines. As I said, best to focus on the action scenes and not pay much attention to the rest or you may become needlessly confused or disheartened.

What I learned from this movie: #1 Elephants are loyal family members. #2 Gravity does not apply to Tony Jaa. #3 When in doubt-aim for an enemy's tendons, preferably with a bone of revenge.

If you are wanting a complex and coherent story with character development, this is not it. If, however, you are in the mood for an exciting martial arts movie that includes elephants and has a likeable star, everything else is irrelephant (couldn't help myself!). This is the one to try.


3/20/23

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This movie had quite a different take to the normal cult related movies that we see in movies and tv shows. This one showed a family that joined a cult after noticing their sick baby getting better after using the special cult water. And honestly, the family (although apart of a cult) was shown in a very humane way, like the way have dinner together, wash clothes after wearing them for a few days, sharing food with friends, watch shooting stars and so forth, it was all portrayed in a "they're just like us" type of way.
According to her cult, they aren't allowed to drink anything other than their water. So seeing Chi chan enjoy both coffee and water was an interesting to see how Chi chan could balance her parent's religious/cult beliefs in her life alongside the normal societal beliefs through the analogy of drinking both coffee (societal) and the special bottled water (cult).
One thing I noted was that her friends didn't mind or disrespect her beliefs or lifestyle, no mockery, no name calling, or bullying or spreading rumours about her, they just took it as face value and moved on with their own lives. It definitely reinforced that humane viewpoint that I mentioned earlier, the director definitely did a good job to show that although slightly different, they are just like us.
But I do have to acknowledge that, the difference between this story and others is that this Chi chan's parent's cult beliefs weren't as extreme as the reported cases in Japan's news are like. This story shows very mild or moderate cult behaviours; like yes it's made them poor and they have to refrain from drinking stuff that isn't the bottled water, but it's not to the extreme that the parents are giving their entire fortune away to the cult orgs like some do cult members do as seen in real life cases. So maybe that's why it was easy to show this family in a somewhat compassionate light.
Overall, it was a good movie with good acting and great cinematography, especially the last scene with the shooting stars.


P.s. Okada Masaki is very scary when he's acting angry and pissed off, I do not want to get on his bad side ever. But, I can see why people have commented that his character is a jerk. To an extent I agree, he was quite harsh to Chi chan. However, since we never got a backstory to his character, I'd like to think that maybe it's because of past trauma and experience from cults that made him beyond upset. Also, if someone you don't know that well is drawing you every time they see you, that can be very uncomfortable, so I just think that on top of learning about the cultism was the final straw for him.

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Black Belt Karate was a Hong Kong-Indonesia joint production with a mixture of Hong Kong and Indonesian actors. Indonesia provided most of the settings, giving some new blood to the standard Hong Kong and Taiwanese kung fu fare. The movie itself could have used a transfusion of screen presence magnetism.

The movie began with a goofy character named Tommy arriving in Indonesia from Hong Kong looking for his uncle. He wanted to learn karate at his school, but upon arrival it turned out his uncle had moved and a restaurant had replaced the school. The restaurant owner hired him to wash dishes and do odd jobs. Tommy spent most of his time practicing karate moves and watching the demonstrations at the Golden Eagle martial arts school when he should have been working. He was fired from his job and began work as a cart driver where he bumped into a beautiful girl whose father just happened to own the Golden Eagle. He began work as a janitor at the Golden Eagle and ran afoul of Lamoz, the top coach, who had his eyes on Tan Wei, the master's daughter. After Lamoz put the beat down on Tommy, the comic relief was allowed to begin training. Master Sai believed Tommy was a diamond in the rough and would one day become a great karate expert. Billy Chong, who was only referred to as Second Brother, became good friends with Tommy.

Tommy improved and won a local tournament which resulted in the sore loser picking a fight with him later. After Tommy defeated him, it turned out the fight was against the Golden Eagle rules and Lamoz saw to it that Tommy was kicked out. After Lamoz revealed he wanted to marry Tan Wei so that he would inherit the Golden Eagle, Master Sai kicked him out. Lamoz began work at GA's rival school, the Dragon Martial Arts School. Master Sai became ill and asked Tommy to return. When Tommy was out on an errand, Lamoz brought the Dragon students to the Golden Eagle and terrorized the students and tore down their sign board. Master Sai sent Tommy to Hong Kong to further his studies.

In Hong Kong, Tommy met Bruce Leung as Hsieh Kwong, which set up the best fight in the movie as the two sparred. Tommy returned to Indonesia after finishing his training to find that Master Sai had died when he fought off Lamoz, after the creep tried to rape Tan Wei. The big showdown between Tommy and Lamoz was comically short and failed to give the catharsis the character and the audience deserved. The Dragon school called in a ringer, Lo Lieh, to kill Tommy. Despite Lo Lieh showing up in a fancy black and red cape, it didn't help him in the fight.

This film was an odd one. When the film began with Larry Lee doing a comic relief act, I kept waiting for Billy Chong to show up as the main character since he received top billing on the DVD. Instead, Lee with his less than leading man looks or acting ability was the star. Billy would have his chance soon enough in his movies that followed. Lee had above average martial arts skills and indeed did train in Goju Ryu karate. His moves and choreography were realistic enough in most instances. Bruce Leung also was credited with martial arts direction. I truly enjoyed watching Bruce and Larry spar, it was quick and showed off their kicking skills. With the exception of the final fight and Bruce Leung's fight with Chiang Tao, most of the fights were well above kung fu posing. I'm an unabashed Lo Lieh fan, but despite Lo Lieh being Indonesian, this movie could have used a more skilled karate fighter for the big finale. My dream casting would have been Kurata Yasuaki. As it was, the final fight was a let-down. Most of the fights after Tommy returned to Indonesia were of a lower quality than the earlier parts of the movie.

Black Belt Karate had plenty of fights for martial arts enthusiasts with talented bit players and stuntmen filling in the action. Even though it lacked that special narrative spark and charismatic acting that would have made it more memorable, the movie is still one to try for the different fight style and setting than most of the Hong Kong movies in this era had.

3/20/23

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