This review may contain spoilers
Is friendship or love more intimate?
If dialogue serves a purpose, here it will give an insight into the relationship of the characters by reflecting their comments as their thoughts of each other. It's like they're talking in hints. That's the feeling I got while watching this short film. I thought they chose an interesting way to tell a common plot- while keeping it open too. It's a complete story for me.Most telling are the characters' comments about the birds, who can only be symbolic of them at two different stages. Because, when the birds are close together, the girls are glued to each other too- and when the birds have space between them, the girls have physical distance between them too. So the birds are them. Closeness represents love for Fuji and friendship for Maki. When there is distance, Maki wonders if it's love, but for Fuji it's definitely not. Being mere friends is half hearted for Fuji, since friends would go their own way when they're tired of each other, which is what the girls actually do at the end. Dusk sets on their relationship and like a break up, they go their separate ways.
I think you can interpret an untold story by reading between the lines. How Maki holds the umbrella for Fuji, how Fuji is affected by Maki's gaze, but it may not be romantic for her. How Fuji feels something in the hand movement they do, but it takes a while for Maki to get it. How someone catches them on the rooftop and they run off to the beach that's more free. How Maki loves the moon and Fuji similarly, from the bottom of her heart, and Fuji is silent.
When they first join their hands, they acknowledge the ways they don't match. The whole hand thing they do probably represents intimacy.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
You sank my battleship...and this movie!
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...never mind, there was nothing scary about this horrible Kaiju named Reigo. For some reason the makers of this movie decided to set it during WWII using the real world Battleship Yamato and its crew as the hero of the piece.In 1941 a young Japanese man, Takeshi, bids his schoolgirl girlfriend goodbye as he sets off on the Yamato. The Yamato was one of two warships with enormous guns, the pride of the Japanese navy. During a routine mission the ship fires on a strange object in the ocean killing a baby Reigo. Big mistake. Now mama or daddy, nobody got close enough to check, sought vengeance on the fleet of destroyers and subs accompanying the Yamato. The Yamato was at a great disadvantage because of the size and angle of the guns. They couldn't fire up close, close being closer than 25k/16mi. Everyone should have felt safe on the great warship with Commander Yamagami in charge. Kurobe Susumu who played the level headed commander had been in half a dozen Godzilla movies before this. Unfortunately, he gets promoted in mid-battle and sent back to Japan leaving a former professor in charge. Between the professor and Takeshi, the cutie pie student, they must come up with a way to alter the guns as Reigo destroys each member of the flotilla.
In order for Kaiju movies to be entertaining they have to give us two things: fun and a compelling monster. I can not overstate how truly terrible the CGI was in this movie. They would have been much better off with a guy in a rubber suit and using miniatures. Reigo, the bone fish, the ships, and the ocean were of the worst video game quality. It's hard to immerse yourself in the movie when you are constantly confronted with the terrible CGI. The interior shots of the ship weren't much better, they looked like they were shot in an office building. It didn't help that this giant warship appeared to have a crew of less than 20 men.
In real life, the Yamato never fired its massive guns until 1945 not long before it was sunk by the American navy. In a strange ending complete with a Kabuki narrator and styling, the Yamato's fate was briefly told right before the credits. It was a strange juxtaposition of monster tale and WWII reality which didn't work for me. Actually, nothing in this movie worked for me-not the human story, the monster, or even the Japanese speaking American they fished out of the ocean. For die hard Kaiju fans only and even then it might not be worth checking out.
8/16/22
Was this review helpful to you?
4:44 am
just to remember i'd been here and had fun exploring all the tests tests tests tests.. also, if you end up here & see this, hi! hello there, you having fun? well, i'm hungry, off to eat something maybe.sorry to say i barely heard any music, this show is just musically not my type at all.
the cast didn't leave much impression on me except being hilarious, not that i'm laughing, as it is for me, i don't enjoy comedy show that much due to my weird sense of humor. so it's just okay..
might come back to remember this moment.. & to see if there's any update or result of all the tests going on here. k, bye for now.
p.s. i found this place because of randomusagi. so, umm, thanks? for being this random. xD
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Nameless daughter in lost and found!
Reclaim is an uneven but interesting story about a 60-year-old woman who has lived her life for others. When she finds herself between a rock and a hard place with her extended family, her reaction to their needs is to look for a larger home.Ye Lan Xin's life has become one of many hats---mother, daughter, wife, friend, in-law, teacher, but none of them are truly her own. Her retired husband refuses to help around the house and uses her more like a servant. When she came home in the opening scene to find he had gone through her books telling her which ones to keep, he lost all sympathy with me. You don't mess with a person's books-that's sacred territory!
Her grown daughter soon moves back in after quitting her job and trying to start up her own company hoping for mommy's financial as well as emotional support. The daughter, too, doesn't see her mom as a person but more as an assistant and ATM. The grown son who had been educated on his parent's dime in the States, also expects her to do his bidding. When her mother who suffers from dementia once again wanders away from the nursing home, Lan Xin wants her to move into their apartment. Her husband's "antique" collection and teapot collection take up nearly a whole room but he refuses to part with anything. He even buys a champion pigeon and lets it roam freely through the house without cleaning up its mess.
Lan Xin decides to buy a larger house so everyone will have their own room. Out of all them, she has the least privacy, unable to even watch Richard Gere movies when she wants to.
Much of the movie involves Lan Xin walking up and downstairs, traveling in elevators and circling around reflecting the ups and downs in her life as she searches for an affordable home. There are a couple of fantasy scenes awkwardly imposed into the movie that don't really fit with the realistic mood and also make it difficult to know if some of the things that are shown really happened. Ultimately, what Lan Xin was looking for was herself and coming to terms with the young girl who wanted to go to Paris to study art and the older woman who had married instead and teaches art on the side. When someone asks her name she goes blank because it has been so long since anyone called her by it. The scenes of Lan Xin creating a dollhouse that resembles her home tells much of what she desires and also what she comes to learn. The movie is beautifully shot, particularly the trip she and her mother take to their home town. The music can be syrupy at times, but in this type of movie fit the mood well.
Nina Paw as Lan Xin gave a subtle performance yet quietly powerful as small clues showed through her almost imperceptible reactions. While his character could be grating with denigrating demands and opinions, Johnny Kou played the self-involved husband perfectly. The sets were all intricately designed, especially the main apartment, important since much of the action took place in the almost claustrophobic spaces as Lan Xin tried to carve out one tiny place for herself.
There are times when you will want to shake Lan Xin for letting herself be used by nearly everyone around her in her need for approval and other times you will want to cheer for her as she gains clarity. Far from a perfect movie, and too long for the subject matter Reclaim is still worth trying out to watch as one woman takes the slow journey to reclaiming her life.
"All of us are alone when we reach the end. There's nothing to be afraid of." -Lan Xin's mother
8/16/22
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
the definition of WTF
ironically thought would be frustrated cause this dated, cause of misogyny, man-handling (given the yr it was made) but Nope. this was interesting and dark. bit trope with the damsel in distress, where the jaded, seasoned detective falls for (well) her story, hook line and sinker. but that is also the problems i had with the plot - the holes that is.idk what yr forensic techniques started getting used in connection with the detection of crime in Korea, but not one cop used gloves. taking evidence from crime scenes meeh.. so going off alone and then not contacting ur peer's with relevant info (when u've got a cell ugh...) was frustrating and mindboggling to watch.
seeing Detective Cho take Soo-Yeon (a freakin suspect) yeah he was sure she was a victim - but shouldn't it be "suspect until proven otherwise"... but lets put that aside for a sec, he takes her home(!) to his house instead of a safe house? without a say so from/to his superior's?!??? heck he might as well be the lone ranger. and then if that wasn't WTH enough, he leaves her his gun and goes to investigate Alone, without one?!??? huh??? it's not that she's that likeable or believable - she not just mysterious but cryptic and weird -
idk this was somehow fine until the "end" (either i didn't get enough info via the subs or there was info missing, that was supposed to help me figure out the mess towards the end). cause i'm left genuinely confused as to what the frack happened -
get Soo-Yeon murdered her father - with the help of the whole group of guys?!? or they found out and cause of that, she had to get ride of ever guy? or cause of what happened to her, she turned psychotic with anyone not willing to let go, the sec she had enough of the 'ship'!???
Min Oh was suspect from the word go, but she was a boy when younger? so she's Trans?!? and get she was just covering for and trying to help Soo-Yeon till the end. which she kinda succeeded in do, considering Soo-Yeon's scot-free. which again, why(????) ugh as Detective Cho has a freakin cell, but i really donno... so this end was frustrating and just annoying.
started off strong and then it went off the rails... maybe will revisit if i find better subs to see if there is missing info, that will help me get a better picture and understanding of everything - but now it's just 'ok'.
Was this review helpful to you?
loved in so many ways
this drama was amazing. my favorite part was definitely how it took place from when they met to to her wedding day. it really showed the emotional roller coaster of their relationship. I felt they made the right decision in the end. it didn’t feel like one of those romances where everything had to work out in the end. and even though the mc’s didn’t end up with eachother, I felt that made it more heartwarming. maybe they could be friends or something in the future? so yes. i am in fact in love with this movie.Was this review helpful to you?
Watched this early as heck in the morning and I loved that I did!!
This movie is wild and funny. I don't know how the actors did it but they did amazing with trying to portray the outlook of how BDSM actually is . BDSM is usually frowned upon by people who don't even know what the concept of it is. leading to some people who are into that kind of thing to not act on it, or tell people that they enjoythis type of thing , as they're afraid to be subject to people's prejudice. But when my man started barking I lost it🤣I don't know how he did it but damn it must have been such an experience for both actors playing roles they've never done before.Was this review helpful to you?
Nice watch with lots of plot holes
STORY - a former gangster wants to be a chef, even a not so good one. A teenager appears, love between them, a sort of love based more in friendship and maybe the dream of happiness.But he was targeted to be killed...
CAST - good FL, nice ML. The characters, except FL were not so interesting so acting could shine...
MUSIC - nothing special to me.
REWATCH - never. I enjoyed it, but there is not a single scene to remember.
OVERALL - I like and I am happy to have watch this movie. But there are so much better, even with this age gap love, more friendship love...
Was this review helpful to you?
What is the price of truth?
What is the price of truth? The movie greatly details this question through the lenes of the characters of the island and the police who are trying to find the answer to the mystery. The movie subverts expectations in interesting ways. Though the running time of the movie, you will question yourself, is the truth worth all of the effort. The search for one single truth leads to the destructions of so many lives. None of the characters other than the criminal, are portrayed in single black or white. They all have their own agendas and concerns, but at the end of the day are just people trying to live their lives. To a younger audience the portrayal of the islanders may seem a bit jarring, and some might find them repulsive as well, but that comes from a limited perspective of people, and how they are in real life.The acting could have been better. Actors shine in some moments, but overall two out of the three leading men, are a hit and a miss in most scenes. Similarly, the cast has some performers, who are natural, and some over acting.
The background score is gripping and aids the scenes without being overly intrusive.
The movie has a very interesting twist (layered) in the very last ten minutes, which despite not being the theme during the running minutes of the movie, add up nicely.
It is not the best movie. or the worst movie. but a worthwhile watch at least once.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
If he will cheat with you, he will cheat on you!
Man of the House is a biopic based on Tochuken Kumoemon a rokyoku performer who died 20 years before this film was made. The protagonist was thoroughly unlikeable making this a difficult film to watch. Tochuken developed his performances by experiencing other people suffer, usually the women in his life. He was an insufferable "artist" who had no grasp of what real emotions were or the courage to actually feel them.The film begins with Tochuken and his second wife Otsuma along with his troupe, traveling by train to Tokyo for his biggest performance ever. Those around him were concerned because eight years ago he'd created a scandal by having an affair with his shamisen player and divorced his wife. Now he's married to Otsuma, who is dying of tuberculosis. He has the troupe disembark in a town before arriving in Tokyo where he disappears, drinking and hanging out with geishas. His manager warns him against a relationship with the geisha Chidori for fear it will harm his wife's health. Tochuken brushes him off saying that Otsuma is a performer and knows it will help his performance. Once again, he is surrounded by scandal and in the newspapers for the wrong reasons.
His son from his first wife travels to see him but Tochuken has little time for him. He stresses that the worst thing a man can be is weak. Yet when his son stands up for his stepmother begging his father to dismiss Chidori, his father runs him off. Otsuma tells the son that they have to accept Tochuken's behavior if it helps him to perform. When Otsuma finally confonts Tochuken, he tells her that even if his performances are not as good, people love him more.
Tochuken loves to brag about his toughness. When out hunting he approaches a bird too closely and blows it to bits, much like the women in his life. As Otsuma's condition deteriorates he refuses to visit her in the hospital. He wants to remember her as a performer and not as a mere woman. Ultimately, Otsuma gives him one last performance.
I'd like to think Director Naruse was casting a critical lens on the self-absorbent, cruel behavior of a performer who excuses his actions saying it's all in the name of art. Even now, nearly 100 years later, gifted men are afforded great latitude in the name of allowing them to develop their craft whether it's acting or mathematics or politics.
Tochuken said the worst trait a man could have is weakness. As someone who could not face reality and true suffering with a posse of enablers around him to insulate him, he more than any other showed himself to be weak and pathetic. Man of the House was well made, though somewhat faded, the care of the shots shown through. Tsukigata Ryunosuke was handsome as the devilishly charismatic actor. And Naruse carefully spotlighted Tochuken's almost gleeful destructive behavior toward those closest to him which again, I'm going to take as a criticism of the egocentric behavior. Not an easy watch by any means but worth trying if you are a fan of Naruse's films or biopics, even one with a troubling subject.
8/15/22
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
MUST WATCH!
This movie is a MUST WATCH! The comedy aspect of the film was perfectly done. I found myself laughing non-stop at all the funny scenes while watching. Also, the chemistry of the main leads were legendary despite their rushed bonding before the movie was shot. I could honestly rewatch this Thai movie once a week and still enjoy it due to how funny the scenes are. Funny movie with the addition of romance.. just perfectly executed by Nine and Baifern! I'm not really a big Thai Drama/Movie watcher but I can honestly say that this movie, is probably on my list of top movies to recommend. I've watched many movies such as American Movies, Chinese Movies, Korean Movies, and more but this movie just makes me feel relaxed while watching. All the dramatic facial experessions and joking around from the main leads really enhance the movie to being even better than I anticipated. If you are wondering if this movie is worth your time.. I would say 100% give it a try. Give it a try if you are looking for a good laugh. Thank you.Was this review helpful to you?
What fun!
I decided to watch this so I could see Mamiya Shotaro in a lead role, and he was completely different than in other roles in which I've seen. Loud, mean, uncouth, brash, driven, set-apart - these are words you could use to drive his character. And you would, at the beginning. Wait until you are further into the movie, and you'll think caring, hidden depths and thoughtful, not only in his outward actions, but in the way he he was going through life.He and the FL had such a fun relationship. This would NOT be a healthy relationship in the real world, but when played for laughs it absolutely worked. Never have two people been more in sync than when they are screaming at each other! I'm going to do some research to see if the two actors have worked together before. I would love to see them together in something else to see if the chemistry is still there.
I loved how this movie focused on the main couple and everyone else pretty much faded into the background. They were there solely to bring the spotlight to the main couple.
I'll be honest, I don't remember the music. I was too busy laughing and enjoying the movie.
I will definitely re-watch this movie when I just need an hour or so of fun.
I would recommend this movie, absolutely!
Was this review helpful to you?
Presented as it is.
As viewers of fiction, we often root for our protagonists to witness growth and overcome their crises. In most cases, we get exactly what we wish for. This is not one of them.The movie does a great job in depicting what could go wrong when you're faced with an overwhelming situation.
In the beginning, you keep denying there's a problem until a time comes when you're forced to assess the problem with your limited knowledge and do your best to alleviate it. With time you realise that even though you keep trying and giving your best, the problem still remains. It persists. This leads us to the stage of avoidance where we seek comfort elsewhere to distract us from our troubles.
But one can only avoid it for so long... until it arrives knocking at your door, bringing with itself the consequences of your inaction and all you can do is... accept it.
If you're someone who is tired of all the ultra positive feel happy media present everywhere and want something refreshing for a change or if you are procrastinating on your troubles and want something or someone to knock you back into reality, then this is highly recommended.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Great acting- Big plot holes
The entertainment value of this film is high. It is suspenseful and well acted. The director and actors clearly worked well together. The writers on the other hand...The first part of this movie is amazing. Up until the main protagonists father is saved everything makes sense. If you don't think too deeply everything is fine... But really things fall apart after that. It falls apart in a slightly annoying way that makes you yell at the protagonist to use their common sense.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD
They want us to believe that a young person in the year 2020 would not use the internet to the best of their abilities. This person doesn't have the common sense to do any research on what is happening at all. That is the biggest plot hole of this entire story.
Equally annoying is the fact that she has a zero concept of fact that changes in the past could have negative consequences on the present. She also just casually shares things about the present with this person from 20 years in the past. That's kind of rule number one of dealing with the past, is that you do not share things about the present. Especially since she wasn't doing it for a specific reason, and then already realizee that this was a horrible criminal. If only she knew when to SHUT UP!!!
Then there is this lack of memory. After her father is killed she should have remembered her mother coming to the house.
Was this review helpful to you?
