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Once you entered darkness, there's no turning back... No matter how hard you try.
If I were to sum it all up, this story is all about unconditional love and everything grim, dark and tragic all together. It's like a whole 4 tier cake that's fully-structured by prostitution, molestation, suicide, rape, cheating, murder and violence with same-sex romance as its cherry on top to attract its viewers. It may look interesting, exciting and delicious on the outside but once you take a bite you'll be shock on how awfully bad it actually tastes inside.It was a story of everything sinister and ludicrous intertwined to each other and depicts how multiple acts of such brutal action can result to a continuous, moreso, non-stop set of events that only leads to either tragedy or death.
Closely looking at the narrative, I'd say that they successfully made this story as dark and tragedic as they wanted it to be by mercilessly manipulating each and every piece like a puzzle that will only move in accordance to its players wish and desire.
This movie probably has the greatest facade I've ever watched in a long while. The way they've flawlessly hidden the true agenda of this piece by showing us same-sex love story felt like a whole fraud trick to me. It may seem promising and exciting at first but as it progresses you'll realize that it's starting to go deeper and darker... and by the end, you will be perplexed to know that you're only left with nothing but agony, disappointments, and regrets.
There are only 2 positive points I can clearly see from this movie; First is the familial love Mek has shown to his mother and brother. Second is the unconditional and unrestricted mutual love and affection Itt and Mek have for each other. Aside from these, I can't seem to point out anything else that's considerably good or nice.
Lastly, its ending!! I was so mad and heartbroken. I really thought they'd finally live a more peaceful and happy life after all the tragedy they've been through, yet, this story chose to go all out by giving us nothing but another heartache. They killed Mek like it was part of the plot... Expected to happen to conclude the story and pronounce it 'complete'. Where in fact! It was not! Probably the worst decision ever!
P.S. They really love to do the making out/sex scenes outdoor and I got no complains about that. I even love it a lot. Hahaha!
Story - 7.5, Despite all the negative and dark messages this movie has. I'd still say they executed it quite well and it would've been even better only if it wasn't this problematic!! Still can't move on with the tragic ending ><
Acting/Cast - 9.5, I'm surprisingly satisfied with the leads. Specially with how 'A' look convincing, both appearance and acting wise. Same with 'Tob'. The only problem I've had is with Ying. In some instances her line deliberation felt weak and unstable
Music - 9.5, It's nice to hear early 2000s BGMs once in a while. It felt nostalgic and it truly brought me back to those times. Love the Thai song played too. It smoothly conveys and make you feel the raw emotions they all wanted you to experience and go through.
Rewatch Value - 8.5, Even when it ended tragically. I can still see myself watching it in the future. A year or so probably? For some reason, their bittersweet romance still makes me feel butterflies.
Overall - 8.5, No matter how dark and gloomy the whole vibe of the story, I still can't deny how good the delivery of the entire narrative is. It was foul tasting, traumatic yet kinda addicting. Something I can remember for a long time for sure.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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Confusing
My interpretation is that this film is about Seulgi's insecurities about Miso and her husband, because the guy was completely oblivious about her death, I believe if it happened he would've at least hear about it since the wedding was at the same day as the "funeral". I felt like she was jealous at every second of this short film. I can't really express what I'm thinking because I'm legitimately still confused, idk. I have to talk about Ahn Soyo real quick, she's really good, I watched this short film because I just saw her in The Glory, and seeing this short film that only a few people watched and knowing that she went on to act on such a big time show like The Glory is really cool, I hope she can get more opportunities, and the other 2 as well.Was this review helpful to you?
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Poignant and beautiful; it's an artistic (as opposed to mainstream) film
Spoiler alert: This is a touching and intimate character study of Chihiro, a lost individual, and the people who temporarily enter her life. The pacing is slow, and the action and dialogue is minimal. But it’s beautifully filmed, with the landscapes and vistas of her seaside community nicely conveying Chihiro’s sense of isolation and loneliness as she struggles to bond with those around her. The hook, that Chihiro is a former sex worker, is probably a metaphor for her struggles to connect emotionally with others. By the end of the film, we understand what she meant when she imagined that earth is populated by aliens, each of whom came from a different planet. For those who enjoy an artistic-leaning films, this movie is worth checking out.Was this review helpful to you?
Worse than I was expecting.
I wanted to like this more than I did, and I just had to give it a watch, considering it had Kim Nam-gil which is my favorite actor. I will say, he is a phenomenal actor, but this movie lacked much real depth to me. It was a very pushed connection, and or chemistry that actually didn't seem present in any of the characters, with any of each other or really themself all that much. Definitely not present between Kim and Park, but a complete facade of one, I understand she was incredibly naive, and you have sympathy for her, but it was more annoying than sad to me. A constant sacrifice to those dumb men, when it was not returned, comes off as "idiotic", rather than sweet or sad. I absolutely hated her character and everything she was. The ending was the absolute worse, and she deserved much worse at the end. I ended up losing any of the sympathy I had for at the end. There was no chemistry between Jeong and Kim either, even though it was trying so desperately hard to build that, but it was pretty empty. Their interactions were surface layer, and lacked real meaning. I had trouble finishing this movie, and was going to stop watching it about 30 minutes in, but said I'll continue to watch because of Kim Nam-gil. It's not terrible per say, it's just not all that around that Interesting and nearly bored me to death. My biggest and one issue with this film, was the nudity, vulgar language, and sex scenes. You can betray all these dark things of humans, and the nature of us, and society without showing nudity and sex. It doesn't add any substance, and that isn't bought by people who are actually looking for films and shows with real substance and meaning. The whole movie was depressing, everything felt dark even in the daylight. Which is clearly obvious because of how depressing this movie was meant to bem The only good thing this film had going for it was casting Kim Nam-gil, which his character lacked much of really anything, was uninteresting, and you didn't have a clue what he was truly thinking and or feeling throughout the whole movie, so, no I don't suggest this movie, but only to those who are die hard fans of Kim Nam-gil, otherwise if you decide to not watch it, you aren't missing much.Was this review helpful to you?
Have your tissues handy
"Remember" might be uncomfortable for some given the subject matter of the Japanese occupation of Korea. Forced labor to other countries of Korea's young men, young women under the guise of working in a factory being forced to give "comfort" to a foreign invader's military men, businesses aquisitioned for the growth of the invading power are but a few of the points at the forefront."Remember" was tight and lacked the flaws usually found in a film. The determination of the lead character in his mission was lead by an equal fixation of the scripwriter and director. The plot was straight forward with no detours. Action, Thriller, and Historical genres were given equal measure, with suspense heavily-laden. There was NO room for romance. No room for dilly dallying away precious time in a nearby coffee shop. The story was moved along with one goal in mind. And it was fantastic!!!
I have no descriptions for the 2 main leads. There aren't enough superlatives. The supporting cast were mainly veteran actors who never give less than in any project. It was a male-driven film.
Oh, and if the truth about the past is not remembered & preserved we'll definitely be inclined to repeat it.
Seriously, the ONLY thing that bothered the heck out of me during the entire 2 hours and 8 mins was the Americanized nicknames for the T.G.I.F's (more commonly known now as Friday's) employees which I've seen in other dramas. THE USE OF JASON AND FREDDIE GRATED ON MY NERVES. I hope this one factor isn't an issue with the local employees of the international company. It's degrading and disrespectful.
I rated the music lower ONLY because, well, did it have music???
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This fish may put you over the limit
If The Legend of Jiang Zi Ya was not a cheaply made movie about the titular character, then it did a good masquerading as one. The CGI was close to home computer level quality. Jiang Zi Ya would most likely be a familiar character to the audience and perhaps that's why the writers glossed over anything resembling character development, but by doing that it significantly lowered the stakes for the characters in the movie.Jiang Zi Ya battles a river demon after it has eaten the parents of a little girl named Phoenix who were fishing on a raft. After imprisoning the river demon, Jiang is called on the carpet by Primus. Primus tells him he must apologize for hurting innocents during his battle with the river demon. Jiang steadfastly refuses and is subjected to 15 years of lightning bolts and then being thrown down to earth as a mortal. The now grown Phoenix rescues him and miraculously carries his bruised and bloody body into her hut. The villagers quickly turn against him thinking he is responsible for another river demon threatening them and try to feed him to the giant fish. He ends up saving a little girl from being eaten and is now hailed a hero. The local earth god shows up and lets the cat out of the bag as to who he is. He sends Jiang to the Mausoleum of Deification to retrieve his Deity Whip. Phoenix who feels indebted to him for saving her life years ago, agrees to accompany him as does Rocky, the idiot who loves her. Rocky is the kind of sidekick who makes sure they leap from the frying pan into the fire on various occasions because of his lack of intelligence and self-control. While escaping an ancient ax-wielding demon, Jiang is hurt. Goddess Phoenix (yeah, I have no idea why she looks just like earthly Phoenix and the writers didn't explain) tells mortal Phoenix to transfuse blood into him. This seems to give him his powers back, but it could be because goddess Phoenix was mixing her blood in, too. Again, no clarification by the writers. They finally arrive at the resting place of the whip but are stopped when a voice tells Jiang if he takes the whip, the villagers will die. Our hero goes back to the village sans whip and now has to battle the river demon who has escaped his prison and is looking for payback.
The ending deals with sacrifice and benevolence. Thankfully, after all the sacrifices the women in Jiang's life made for him he's learned to let go of romantic love. Didn't help those women, but at least he's free to go on his heroic way unfettered to do his Investiture of the Gods work.
The movie relied on primitive looking CGI and the battles weren't exactly tension filled. The fight choreography was simple and unimaginative. Primus looked suspiciously like The Eye of Sauron.
Despite the low quality effects Benny Chan and Niu Ze Meng were likeable in their roles. They fell in love awfully fast. Of course, hers could be hero worship and for him she was a ringer for his girlfriend (who he hadn't seen in 100 years). The acting aside from the main two characters was cringe-worthy. One older woman's job was always yelling someone's name repeatedly when there was danger. "My granddaughter!" "Phoenix!" "Xiao He!" It became humorous after a while. The version I watched used English names for some of the characters in the subs, just to make you aware there are different versions out there.
Aside from the female doppelgänger situation, the story was easy to follow. For the most part it was entertaining despite the cheesy CGI and acting. The ending was a letdown as it used the female sacrifice trope I am well and truly over. I began to think the river demon cleaning house wouldn't be such a bad idea. Clocking in at just over an hour, The Legend of Jiang Zi Ya doesn't require much commitment but it could strain your patience.
3/16/23
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I was not fond of the end, I guess open ending like that aren't my cup of tea, but it was still interesting in a way.
But for sure, I felt the pain of the mother. She lost everything, and she stills accepted to take care of him. She is sick, she is feeling a great distress, she is lost, she feels lonely...
Having him might have woken up the old her, the piece of her she was searching for.
Overall, I liked it. It wasn't that exhausting to watch and differents subjects were still talked about. They weren't talked about in a light way and it wasn't pressuring as well.
I feel that it is a really hard to recommand that movie but you should at least all try to watch it once.
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I didn't put 10 for the rewatch value because if you know the plot, the story isn't that surprising anymore. I liked it...no I think it was great. The story was not seen before (from my perspective I guess), which made the whole movie a lot more interesting.
The acting was also on point. Woo-shik and Da-mi did an amazing job, I'm impressed.
I think it's the type of movie you should all watch without looking for the plot before, it makes everything 10 times better.
Captivating is the right word for this movie.
And unexpected.
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Old school revenge
This was the most camp Korean movie I've ever seen. So exaggerated, so melo, so in your face. I laughed way too much at just how perfectly done it was. Now you may ask why only six stars? Because the cinematography is so dated it looks like a 1970s movie even though it was filmed in 2005 and there just wasn't any need for it to look that bad. In any event, it was quite interesting.OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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good mood and tone
Sunny Our Heart Beat Together is a girly friendship Japanese movie by Genki Kawamura, who is also the director of Your Name (2016). This movie is about a 90s high school friend group named "Sunny," which used to spend their teenage years together. Until 22 years later, each of them was grown up and facing adult problems for themselves. One day, one of the members, Nami, runs into another Sunny member, Serika. But, she has been ill because she has cancer, which has no cure. Serika told Nami that she wanted to reunite with Sunny before she died. Then, Nami is trying to do everything to make Sunny come together again.They did very well in the part that can make the audience deep down with their relationship. And, the scene of the movie is cut back of forth between the part of past and past of present making the audience not bored. Moreover, mood and tone obviously show the difference between the colorful life of a high school girl and the dark life of an adult woman. In the past part, there are also some scenes that use song to be the main theme of that part, like it’s a musical movie. For me, it caught my attention and made teenage life more wonderful. Many scenes are lighthearted. On the other hand, there are also many scenes of gloom. It made this movie do very well in contrasting bitter and sweet. Good combination.
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Felt like a drama recap were if you haven't watched the drama you wouldn't feel the connection
Such a missed opportunity! I was so excited seeing the leads and so disappointed as I finished the movie.The story is your usual youth stories, the main characters were really interesting, the hopless playboy, the female school leader, and the mysterious new Seoul girl. They had so much potential but got totally sidetracked by the mix of everything in a small pot.
Like so many side stories shouldn't have been there because we got barely any attachment to anyone in the movie. The 2nd female lead had an interesting story that was left vague and never told.. even the fl was kinda never really explored. The story losses the way from the very beginning, you end up not knowing what was all of this about.
Like there are even characters (the beared guy who's always in MLs house) that serve no purpose but to take up screentime as if the movie has alot to spare!
6/10 It's watchable until the end
Rewatch value : never
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Action Scenes strung together....
The only redeeming quality of this movie, are the action sequences and production value.Watch it once if you can pay attention for that long and move on.
I have no prior knowledge of the novel this is based on, nor watched any of the previous adaptions.
These series of novels are famous and very popular supposedly. Based on this and another adaption of a different novel from same author, they just seem like badly written webtoons. Makes sense if these are what inspired all the badly written webtoons... lol. I am a fan of Wuxia, but so far these adaptions of these popular novels are not it.
The way the story is told, pacing and unlikeable characters presented you left with the feeling of indifference and confusion. The way ML is setup/found multiple times in the same way, was almost comical. The romance seemed forced, and many of the characters introduced are rushed and thrown in from out of nowhere.
The ending is rushed with a few flashbacks causing more confusion rather than completing the plot holes. You don't make a standalone movie expecting your audience to have knowledge to fill in half the story.
It just feels like this movie was just to showcase Donnie Yen directed action sequences. Which was great! Except the final fight, too much telekinesis ki power maybe? Every time ML fired off his ultimate move, i heard the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. lol.
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Disturbing to say the least
This movie has the basest yet most disturbing plotline I've seen in a while and the thought this was made in 2019 almost brought me to the brink of despair. The scriptwriter has to have been a sadist otherwise there was absolutely no reason to tell this half-assed story about a special needs young girl who was raped repeatedly -on screen- in the most harrowing of circumstances. What was the point of this?OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Miss Manners for martial arts
Martial Club followed Wong Fei Hung from goofball show-off to accomplished and more thoughtful fighter. Though the story wasn't too compelling it had some interesting fights in it. Gordon Liu, Robert Mak, and Kara Hui as three young fighters from two different schools had a nice, if not too dynamic camaraderie. If it feels like I'm damning this movie with faint praise, I probably am.The movie opens with an elaborate Lion Dance that is interrupted by a rival school led by Lu Zheng Fu (Chu Tit Wo). Wong Fei Hung's father (Ku Feng) and Master Zheng Tian Shou (Wilson Tong) attempt to keep the peace with the troublesome school. Meanwhile, Wong Fei Hung and his buddy Wang Jinlin (Mak) have more fun horsing around and picking fights with paid marks than they do actually training at their respective martial arts schools. Wang Juying (Hui) has a crush on WFH and runs interference for her brother Jinlin. Along comes Master Shan Xiong (Johnny Wang), a fellow from the North, and apparently all people from the north are considered rubes and less intelligent, in a classic case of miscommunication, he delivers a punishing blow to Jinlin, stopping short of killing him. The aftermath causes WFH to rethink his devil may care attitude and he decides to commit to his training while Jinlin continues to hang out at the brothels.
Shan joins up with an old acquaintance at the rival school to the other two. Think Slytherin vs Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. The shady Lu's son (King Lee) and his buddies trick Jinlin at the brothel and nearly beat him to death doing nothing to help the tension between the schools. Afterwards, Lu invites the others to a Cantonese opera and then tries to have them arrested for watching the show without a ticket. An extended free for all brawl takes place until Papa Wong shows up and calms everyone down. Master Shan refrains from any of the infighting and often restrains the Lu family when he can. He tests WFH on his martial courtesy and is pleased. The two have a "friendly" duel in the Zig Zag Alley which was the highlight of the film. And then a pointless and abrupt ending.
There was little to complain about with the fights. Gordon, Robert, Kara, and Johnny were a delight to watch as always. Hsiao Ho also showed up to add some acrobatics. Gordon and Johnny's duel showcased a number of styles well done, especially as the alleyway became narrower and narrower. Kara was an elegant fighter, even if her character was a bit of a hothead. Lau Kar Leung, King Lee, and Hsiao Ho provided the creative martial arts choreography managing to make huge brawls and one-on-one fights interesting.
The problem I had with the film was that there wasn't anything really at stake except for school pride. Though the Lu School played dirty, they never received any punishment for their misdeeds because everyone was too polite and more concerned with keeping the peace. The film was largely about loyalty and martial arts decorum, manners if you will. The implied crush between WFH and Juying had no spark to it, at least on his part. Kara looked like she was trying to make some chemistry happen, but came up against Gordon's stony façade. The friendship between WFH and Jinlin faded as WFH separated himself skill-wise. Other than WFH's seemingly overnight maturity and leap in abilities, nothing actually happened in this movie except for a bunch of fights between the schools.
What I did really like. When I see Johnny Wang's name on a cast list, I immediately know who the Big Bad or the Big Bad's #1 henchman is going to be. Johnny nearly always plays a villain. This is the first film I've ever seen him play a reasonable, fair, moral character and he did a good job at it. It's a shame he didn't have more morally righteous or at least gray characters. Seeing him smile at WFH's courtesy and abilities and not because he'd just murdered a small town was something I didn't know I needed.
Things I learned about the Lion Dance and life:
#1-A lion should never smell another lion's butt. #2-There should be no blinking at another lion. #3-Do not approach another lion with a raised foot.
Martial Club had quality fights and a likeable cast. It just lacked that special spark to make it memorable. Any kung fu movie that could tame Johnny Wang might be too polite for the genre. Who knew making an exciting movie about martial arts manners could be so difficult?
3/15/23
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Monumental work for Korean independent movies!
Where was I in 2006? Dang, doing stupid things and nowhere close to this gem. You have to grow up to this. And grow up in all senses.This showed South Korea inside out, not just as gay intolerant and hypocritical mainstream community, but corrupt, patriarch, insensitive, dirty on the inside. And Kpop smile on the outside. (no movie has nothing to do with Kpop, but if you know the industry, you know)
I'll start with the ending. Promise no spoilers, but if you watch close the last 10 minutes could stop at any point. We go from tragedy to triumph every minute of the ending. Director could choose to cut at any moment, and we could have been hysterical regardless. He made a right choice though...right?
The whispering scene (you will know if you watch it): the most magical moment between two humans. We all want a moment like that in our life to remember. What a string to pull!
Story is so...whats the right word? because "raw" doesn't do a true justice. You have to reach a certain point in life to realize that everything we do is based on the trauma of some sorts we had as a child or growing up.
Sets are just faultless and it feels like its part of the emotional rollercoaster this project puts you through.
If you are for quality, this is it!
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