Reviews

Very interesting story that will make you cry

I came upon this quite randomly and while seeing the main topic of this movie I decided to watch.
The main plot is about a young kid who is both blind and deaf and an adult agent who takes care of her after her mother's death.
The first thing which I was interested in was how blind and deaf people even live? How they communicate? How they perceive the world around them? And it was really interesting to see lot of my questions being answered.
The kid actor Jung Seo Yeon playing the small Eun Hye was so good. Her performance was really top. You could easily believe she is blind and deaf. Also the main male character was played very well by Jin Goo. Their chemistry was something extra, almost like they were father and daughter.
I think the movie is really heartwarming and it will surely make you cry and sometimes it's just too cute, especially when Eun Hye is smiling. The only negative thing I can see is that the story was quite quick and it didn't tell us how some things continued or were solved in the end.
Watch if you are interested in how blind and deaf people can live their daily lives and if you want something to warm your heart to the core.

Read More

Watched for the cast, not for the play

As an adaptation of An Inspector Calls, it lacks the seriousness of their misdoings and critique of elite society where the concluding question for debate should probably be "who is responsible?"

But the question I was left with was "what on earth did I just watch? Was that deep fake Donnie Yen??"

It's been a while since I watched a goofy HK comedy, and this successfully made me laugh. I enjoyed the OTT performances of Louis Koo and Lam Ka Tung. The aesthetics and editing had a Wes Anderson vibe. All the cameos you would expect of a spring festival movie and play the game of spot Director Wong. I loved Teresa Mo's hair.

It wouldn't be out of place as part of a variety show or a school drama club performance, where nobody is taking it deadly seriously and probably neither should the audience. Get a social critique and literary fix from a different source. The message at the end be like "You've had your fun, now go study". Busted.

Read More

Worth a Try for its visuals :)

I personally found this movie to not be as bad as everyone claims it to be. Most of those who dislike this adaptation is due to comparing it to the drama. That aspect in itself doesn’t even make sense. It’s like you comparing a short story version to a novel, a 58 episode drama to a movie that’s about 1h and 45 min.

The story itself is really complicated so its really hard to have every detail in the movie. I felt they did ok with the story telling as I myself was able to understand the story expect perhaps the ending (also why they all look so tan in some of the scenes lol). If you want details I would recommend to just go watch the drama or read the novel then.

The story telling wise as I have said was ok and the big idea was still understandable. Side note (Small spoiler) there’s a part where it feature yang yangs awkward noodle making/ cooking lol. There was a lot of sweet moments though. Also Crystal’s fighting are as amazing as always (in china she’s well know for her Wuxia acting). Basically the movie is a highlight of the main plots of the story. It’s told in a way that when theres a portion that needs explaining it goes to a cut scene of what happen that lead up to scene and since the story talks about there 3 life/ reincarnation they give you pieces of each portion. You can then piece them together. For example, warning there will be a spoiler, theres a part where we see FL talking to a men frozen in ice then her master was almost thrown of the cliff then there was a cut scene showing why her master was frozen in the ice (showing he was frozen in the ice because his soul was shattered when sealing with the sword).

This movie gave me a Disney production vibe and the underwater scenes reminded me of Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. This movie was so aesthetically pleasing, from the visual to the ML and FL actor (both Yang Yang and Crystal Liu are some of the top best looking actors and they have very positive image in acting in historical shows as they particularly excel in this genre in china so this casting was really well done), to the voiceover, to every characters costumes and so much more. Each character’s design where made with thorough thoughts. (But Susu’s wedding outfit was not it lol, light spoiler that bright pink head piece ;-;)

There is some lacking in the acting but there something in them that makes you believe in the character they act. The little green guy is also kinda cute and through out the show he quite humorous (most of the joke are hard to understand for non Chinese speakers though). Each character made me see there emotions, I laughed and cried.

In conclusion I think you can give the movie a try don’t be affected by the over the top negative reviews. Don’t go into it with such strict expectations or else you will always be disappoint and as I said its a unfair comparison. If you are a hardcore fan of the drama then you can ignore what I said. We watch shows for entertainment nothing is perfect no?

I think the movie is a great preview of the this beautiful love story and if you’re intrigued you can then go on to watch the 58 episode drama.

Anyways everyone have there own preferences, I still believe this movie wasn’t bad at all. I would watch it again, and if you’re interested here’s a link to watch it with English subtitles: https://www.xiaoheimi.net/index.php/vod/play/id/20266/sid/1/nid/1.html

Read More

.

i finally got the movie but subtitles are messed up.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Read More

When men are idiots, other people suffer

This is a short and powerful film that made me want to google stuff... but in short it is about a girl who dropped her lipstick in the wrong place... And about her struggles to come to peace with herself living in a world where dropping ones lipstick while in a body that is perceived by others as male is one of the most scary things one can do.

Her struggles with her inner-self can come off as a bit confusing, and has several points that are left for the audience to interpret as one could wonder if she has a person beside her or multiple personalities. However as I understand this it is supposed to be a portrayal of her inner struggles with her true self, so you may want to bear that in mind when you watch it.

This short film can be perceived as a bit slow, but if you pay attention to the music and details you will notice that you need every second of it for the full affect to kick in. And is certainly worth those 12 minutes it takes to watch it... and the other minutes it takes to google stuff too.

Read More

I am never rewatching this

Horror is my least preferable genre, but once in a while, I do jump in to see my frightening level.
Writing about the movie, it's a really simple movie reading its synopsis I thought it won't be scary but by the end, I jumped out of my chair, paused the movie, and took long breaths. Eventually, I was able to complete it but I got really scared and had goosebumps all over.

The best part about the movie is its direction and editing. They filmed it like a documentary and maintained its poise but gave glitches and blackouts giving a feel of ghost presence. The setting of an abandoned hospital full of personal items is not spine-chilling but creepy. It creeps out little by little to scare the audience to the max in the end.

The group of youngsters was almost unknown but they did an excellent job. Our elders say that some places should not be set foot on, they say it for some reasons, although science tends to deny it supernatural powers exist. The greed of these youngsters led them to participate in a horror show but they end with nothing. The ending images of the live stream were scary and the ghosts also leave the live stream empty.

music is natural, winds, talks, walks, screams nothing imaginary filed in to gloss up the movie.

my rewatch is high!!! but am never rewatching this again. because I don't like horror genre.
but if anyone like horror genre one should definitely try this movie.

Read More

-Nothing Serious indeed -

Romance Without Love is one of those romantic movies which manages to hold its ground despite not clear with its path, and without bringing anything special.

The cuteness factor related to the chemistry between the leading performers seems to drive the movie forward more than anything else.

Throughout the movie, and for most of the time, both of them are also on the screen, and there is that kind of a dependence on the two characters, which actually works in favour of the film. Even though there is the usual in here, we also have the divergence also in store – the movie is a combination of the expected and the unexpected, both coming together to create something which is not that far away from life of this century in the big cities.  It has the collection of qualities that are rarely seen in dumb Bollywood romance and others.

Read More

Summer Blues - A gay Pinoy short film definitely worth watching

In recent years, several gay short films have been produced in the Phlippines, and some of them are really worth watching. Masalimuot Ya Tiyagew Es Dayat (English title: Summer Blues in Tondaligan Beach) is definitely one of them.

The plot is simple; I'll give a synopsis, without spoiling the ending (warning: it is not happy).

Luis returns to his native town from Manila where he is about to graduate and spends a day on the beach with Federico, his childhood friend. Levi, the third friend, is going to join them later as he is still working.

Luis and Federico drink beer, smoke a vape joint, and recall their happy childhood days. Luis says that he may have to move back in with his parents for lack of money, and Federico states ”Being an adult sucks”.

They dance, wildly first, but when the music gets slow, they dance cheek to cheek. When they start caressing each other, Luis pushes Federico away, who goes swimming. Luis follows him, and they are floating on the water, getting closer, but drifting apart again. They fool around under water, again getting close.

Back on the beach, Luis seems to be scared, because something which he doesn't want Federico to mention must have happened here in the past. Luis asks Federico if there has been an offering to the sirens, which Federico dismisses as ”old wives tales”.

Then Federico challenges Luis to race to a buoy far out in the water, and only one of the boys returns to the beach.

The whole movie is set in a small area of a beach, and except for the final few minutes, there are only Luis and Federico. So the movie comes across like an open air chamber play. It's a coming-of-age story, and a beautiful one, if you ask me. The atmosphere is joyful at times, but especially Luis can't hide his fear of growing up and facing his true self which would mean facing his feelings for his childhood friend Federico. Federico, on the other hand, seems to have accepted that he is gay.

Both lead actors, Kych Minemoto (Federico) and Zeiah Mejia, are absolutely credible in personifying their respective characters. We can understand that Luis is scared when he finds himself caressing Federico, and we also understand that Federico doesn't exactly know how to deal with his friend's inhibition.

Directing, cinematography, and editing are all high quality, the pacing of the plot is good, and the setting is carefully chosen.

To sum it up: this is another example of a quality Pinoy gay short film which you won't want to miss. It's free to watch at youtube.

Read More

Historical Revisionism, Romanticising Abuse, and Outright Misogyny

Do I really hate this film? Well, actually, I did enjoy some few things in this film until that nasty and unfortunate second half, especially the ending. I love this film for two things: Tony Leung and Tang Wei. Though, I hate this film for three things: the historical revisionism, the "woman and their affection for jewelry (materialism)" trope, and the toxic romanticism of abuse.

In spite of giving it a decisive one star during my first watch, I still decided to give it another watch as I also could not deny the things I have loved about the film. I have a personal positive bias for both of the leads: Tang Wei and Tony Leung. Indeed, their performances have been great as always. At the very beginning, their characters have already been greatly emphasized: his almost callous and greedy composure and her idealistic and naive courage. This did not change all throughout the film which led to that appalling conclusion.

I do commend the direction also, but for a film about espionage, it was lacking with intrigue and suspense. All throughout, I could only sense a story about a tragic romance blossoming. Even the sex scenes didn't have the electrifying quality of eroticism. It was, indeed, lustful. Though, there was no uncanny or distinct emotion that truly drove the eros. Ang Lee need to understand the difference between pornography and true erotica. Erotica has high-art aspirations. It has emotional and intellectual sensitivity. But, just like some cheap pornography, it seemed that Ang Lee only thought to convey different, but, "controversial" sex positions.

After learning that this was based from a true historical event, I went to read about Zheng Pingru. She was the true-to-life spy based on Tang Wei's character. After learning herstory, I was really appalled. Especially that I am from a country where historical revisionism has been a sensitive issue and a detrimental political propaganda machine, I could never justify the disrespect they made her character in the film. Zheng Pingru was a strong and brilliant woman who has not betrayed her country and people which led to her death at a young age of 22. Her character, though, was made less into someone who has chosen jewelry over her true allegiance.

I AM DISGUSTED HOW THEY MADE A WOMAN'S HISTORY FILLED WITH COURAGE AND DIGNITY INTO SOMEONE'S MISOGYNISTIC FANTASIES OF TRAGIC ROMANCE. Even without tying it to true history and just a complete fictional idea, it is still socially detrimental. It really promotes the foolish long-held idea that men has to be aggressive first in order to fully lure the interest of women. Of course, we have different sexual preferences, but the common denominator in all healthy relationships is consent. Again, Ang Lee has no intelligent grasp of true erotica and he also have no true comprehension of BDSM. I doubt even if the sexual assaults were truly plot devices, but rather misogynistic fantasies. That certain scene could have stopped at the moment she was showing agony as he assaulted her, but that scene concluded with her smiling in bed as if to assure the audience that she enjoyed her assault (yikes).

Furthermore, another long-held idea or trope where women will always be moved by a good, expensive jewelry has ruined the film even without tying it to the historical revisionism. Can a woman only realized a man's affection when he give her material luxuries? Patriarchal society has long been damaging women for believing that men have to do the labour and money-earning while their women sit at home and splurge their money on luxury. This patriarchal belief that women are materialistic is what this film was going for. In any way you look at it, Lust, Caution is a film that is completely detrimental to society. The NC-17 rating is not because of the (almost doubtful) erotic content being inappropriate for young audiences, but rather these foolish long-held misogynistic beliefs should be abolished from young minds.

P.S. Another thing I noticed which I almost forgot to add, the film was also portraying the Madonna-whore complex. Yes, of course, another patriarchal belief of their lack of understanding regarding female sexuality.

"The Madonna–whore complex is a concept first coined by Sigmund Freud. It represents the dichotomy of the Madonna—a wholly virtuous, pure, and chaste woman—and the whore—a promiscuous, seductive, and degraded woman. "

This complex has plagued many men into having affairs because they believed that their wives are only good and pure, thus, they need another extra woman in their life that they can corrupt. In the film, we can see how Tony's character degraded, corrupted, and lusted over Tang Wei's. Though, there was no sexual attraction or tension shown between him and his wife. His dealing with his wife was always "pure", while with Tang Wei, it was "promiscuous". This complex and belief has put so many taboos in female sexuality.

Women desiring sex does not make them less pure neither is sex inherently vulgar or dirty. It was the patriarchal belief that put sex in a taboo category. Sex was purposed to be transcendental, holy, and intimate until patriarchal society decided it was a vulgar obscurity just because they can't master over their own unjust lusts.

Read More

Comedy & Action

Movie Review 🎬

Where the female lead doesn't have to fight baddies while wearing a super tight and revealing dress?!
Where she is smart and doesn't have to do unspeakable things to get answers?!

WHAAAAATTT?!
(Insert minio meme here)

Mission:Possible
2021 Korean film
Comedy/Action (Spies)
PG13
1h 45m

Pros +
◇The leads were fantastic and chemistry was there.
◇It was very much aware of its self with the comedy and tropes found Korean shows/movies.
◇No Romance: Smart move of the writers because there wasn't time for one.
◇ Both characters skills were on the same level and that was refreshing to see.
◇The balance of comedy and action was beautiful!

Cons-
◇Some Language
◇ There were two jokes that didn't mesh with me. A side from that it was hilarious 😂

⚠️Content Warnings ⚠️
◇Some Language
◇ Fighting
◇Killing
◇One inappropriate joke
◇ Weapons (🔫 & 🗡)
◇ Fake Blood
◇ Dead Body (not focused on)

This movie is based of an orginal American TV show from the 80s, same tittle.
#missionpossible #koreanmovies #Viki #remakes #actionmovies #comedy

Read More

Fun Fluffy Watch

So I Married an Anti-fan
Chinese Movie
2016
Amazon Prime & Viki

A kpop star and his anti fan both get stuck filming a show tilted So Married an Anti Fan.

If you want a fluffy over the top rom com I would recommend this movie. This one was originally a webtoon and later turned into this movie and currently a Korean drama. Yes I'm watching it and it's a popcorn show! Review coming when it ends this month, it's currently airing.

Now while watching the movie I noticed the male leads singing voice sounded familiar. Well Chanyeol is a singer and part of a Korean pop and Chinese pop group called EXO. They just realsesd their comeback album today and it'sso good!

He also sings some of my favorite songs. I have all three on replay while driving, cleaning, walking you name it!

♡Yours by Chanyeol & Raiden
(Remix is great too)
♡Stay With Me by Chanyeol & Punch
♡Don't Fight The Feeling by EXO
(Came out today, last slide is part of the MV)

#kpop #chinese #viki #amazonprime
#idolmovie #drama #movie #romcom #exo #dontfightthefeeling #mv #chanyeol #dramas #cdrama #cmovie #fangirl #soimarriedanantifan #kdrama #popcornwatch #corny

Read More

Yippee Ki Yay!

High Risk opens like Speed and transitions quickly to Die Hard with Jet Li playing it straight and Jacky Cheung playing it like a parody. Director Wong Jing and Jackie Chan had a falling out when making City Hunter and High Risk was Wong's payback, thinly veiling that Chan didn't do all his stunts and wasn't a great guy off screen through Cheung's character. Boy drama tops girl drama any day of the week!

Jet's character started out as a cop who was unable to save his wife and son from the evil Doctor. He left the force and became kung fu star Frankie Lone's bodyguard and stunt double. Before you can say Yippee Ki Yay---Jet, Frankie, Frankie's dad (Wu Ma!), an intrepid female reporter and a cop's sometime girlfriend became trapped inside the Granadur, make that Grandeur Hotel (spell check people!) with Hans Gruber, I mean The Doctor and a zillion minions who were there to steal a priceless Russian treasure.

There were plenty of explosions, fires, crashes, bloody deaths and snakes. Yes, snakes. What bad guy doesn't bring 100 snakes to a treasure heist, you know, just in case? Always better to be prepared, right?

This movie felt like a collision itself, with Jacky Cheung playing Frankie for laughs while Jet Li channeled his best John McClane completely all business. Real world kickboxing champion Billy Chow made for a properly menacing henchman. Kelvin Wong played The Doctor over the top and was more or less forgettable. Of the women Valerie Chow made an acceptable bad girl and Chingmy Yau did well as the reporter.

One of the problems, aside from the two movies in one, was that Jet Li's Lee Git was responsible for numerous civilian deaths through his use of a car and later helicopter that created grand damage in the building and on the ground. Cheung's mugging for the camera could also wear thin. Not really sure why Wong had Cheung channel his Bruce Lee imitation with the iconic yellow and black tracksuit and fight cries when it was Chan he was trying to skewer.

Corey Yuen's fight choreography was actually first rate when it came to hand to hand or lamp to sword combat. Li's fight with Ben Lam and Cheung's fight with Chow were both entertaining and creative. The gun fights were typical 90's fare where even when multiple bad guys were using automatic weapons they still couldn't hit the hero 15 feet away...numerous times..and even failed with a flame-thrower.

High Risk was ridiculous, especially when bodies that were obviously dummies were thrown off buildings or blown up, but Wong kept the pace and carnage coming fast and furious, thank goodness he hadn't seen that franchise at this time, and the movie did keep my attention even when it didn't seem to be making any sense. I would have preferred that they kept to one mood for the movie because I enjoyed Jet Li's scenes more than Cheung's. The best part about Cheung's scenes was that Wu Ma was often in them and I have a soft spot for the old kung fu movie veteran.

Wong Jing threw everything into a blender to see what would happen so if you are a Jet Li fan or want to see a movie poking fun at Jackie Chan or are curious what a comedic Hong Kong version of Die Hard would be, this might be one to try. If you are looking for a coherent plot and consistent quality acting, best to steer clear. This bonkers film is best viewed through a generous lens.




8/17/22

Read More

It's a reality check.

And that how tears dropped from my eyes That is why people say read review before watching .
It's a worth watching short drama.
Even certain things are unclear ,i feel both the character's view , but i want to say these, minha needed some encouraging words from his bf ,when he said why are you being nice to me ,say it,I felt broken .And about the ending let's just hope no one's dead ( if you know what i mean.)😭 but thinking that too , there were moments were we see him giving up the urge to live .......
it's a short drama that's why many us of feel he's dead , there is exactly something we feel like 50- 50 chances of him being alive or dead.



loved it ....

Read More