Reviews

This was once again... well, something. Definitely something. I guess the whole Gintama concept is an acquired taste but I have to admit that the humor isn't for me. I only watched Yoshizawa Ryo's scenes and everything else I whooshed through at 3x speed. It was simply too cringey.

But Yoshizawa Ryo's Okita Sougo was... wow. He was amazing here. And his fight with the traitors was just about perfect, especially once Kagura joined in. The way they fought side by side and around each other like they were used to it, so perfectly in sync. That was so cool!

I must say I didn't recognize Miura Haruma - *heart-clench again* - as Ito. True, I've only seen one drama of his so far but I really didn't recognize him. He looked so different, wow.

To sum it up, movie #2 was miles better than #1, mainly because of the much bigger involvement of the Shinsengumi in general and of Sougo in particular. Still, I'm not sure I'll ever re-watch it, bar Ryo's scenes, of course. Those are really worth re-watching!

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Finding the right recipe

Perseverance, belief and hope, with a little bit of help from the Fox spirit and a whole lot of experimenting along the way. There are many insights to be gleaned from Mio’s Cookbook - not only on life during the Edo period of Japan or the culinary delights of the era, but also on the profound depths of friendship between two individuals even when faced with the uncertainty of tragedy, as well as the vicissitudes of life.

Mio and Noe were the best of childhood friends until the great floods of Osaka in 1802 took everything away from them, and separated them from each other. Unbeknownst to them, they survived the calamity only to experience the harsh realities of fending for themselves without the love and care of their families who had perished in the disaster. The narrative focuses on their respective journeys of self discovery a decade later in Edo, where both Mio and Noe would eventually cross paths.

Mio’s Cookbook is the fourth adaptation, the first in a feature-length film format, of the award-winning period book series Mi Otsukushi Cookbook by Kaoru Takada that was serialised in 10 volumes from 2009 to 2014. Based on the screenplay by Itaru Era, Kana Matsui, and Haruki Kadokawa who also directed the film in what would be his last project. The music score was composed by Masataka Matsutoya while the theme song Chiritenao is sung by Aoi Teshima. Principal photography took place at the Nikko Edomura theme park in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture and Toho Studio in Tokyo.

What I Loved

This film will go into my all-time favourite list as one of the best produced period productions that I have seen. So much care and effort have been taken in bringing to life the vivid details of the Edo period; not only in terms of the quality and extravagance of the set designs, artistic direction and costumes but also through the beauty of the expertly choreographed traditional dance sequences. These scenes are gorgeously presented by the exceptional cinematography all throughout with well-rendered cinematic colour grading and the kind of classical colour palette that suits the historical genre very appropriately indeed.

The original score is a technical aspect upon which I simply have to lavish praise. Incorporating elements of traditional music performed live with authentic instruments have enhanced the production levels even further and certainly during the performance sequences.

I appreciated the heartwarming story of friendships forged while overcoming adversity and, in the case of Mio, amidst culinary experimentation in her progression towards becoming an established chef. At its core, the narrative isn’t overly complicated and is structured in a somewhat nuanced and delicate storytelling style. I like the “less is more” approach that emphasises the dimensions of the dialogue, expressions of the mood and atmospherics of the moment rather than over-reliance on excessive or exaggerated dramatics. Apart from the characterizations and direction, the acting generally fits with the overall ambience of the film. Some viewers may feel that the pace is too slowburn for their liking but personally, I enjoyed the subtlety of the plot progression and character development.

I have no major complaints with the casting and general performances of the main leads. I think Matsumoto Honoka and Nao are perfect as Mio and Noe respectively. In addition to their commendable individual interpretations of the roles, the palpable chemistry between them convincingly drives the narrative right to its conclusive and poignant ending. If anything, I would love for a sequel that features both actresses once more, in the near future because there is so much potential to their characters that warrant a continuation of their friendship as they navigate the next phase of their lives.

Final Thoughts

Despite the premise and the timeline setting, I would consider Mio’s Cookbook as a reasonably pleasant, heartfelt and inspiring viewing experience that is imbued with moderate complexity of emotions and manageable slice-of-life aspects. It will definitely tug at the heartstrings but in a positive way and rest assured, I believe the conclusion will put a smile on viewers’ faces, just as it did for me.

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Sara-WHAT A Waste of My TINE!

Unfortunately, that genuinely felt like a waste of my money and time. It was basically a review class on the original series with a few clips from Still 2gether and an added graduation scene. Quite underwhelming and so disappointing, but really thinking about it, I’m ultimately not really surprised. This is from the company that gave us trauma over a high five. Still no real kiss, and of course, always a tease. So I guess true to form?

Really not much else to say. We’re really not working with much. If they only went the extra mile and actually made it more realistic, it really would have been a fantastic ending. But as expected, they’re still obviously straight actors intimidated with acting “real” gay. So sad.

P.S. if you want a BL movie experience that’s not disingenuous to its original series/fans, please, please check out Gameboys: The Movie (and Gameboys the series as well). That’s a BL movie done right. :))

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Edward Yang played with my emotions

This movie has so many layers to it, from family, relationships to society. Not to forget this is Edward Yang's debut movie, I am just amazed by the vision he had.

Every single character in this movie has so much depth to them. So, the movie is about two friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reuniting again but the magic is that the whole film doesn't just revolve around these two characters, it revolves around all that is surrounding them, and the character themselves. Throughout the movie, you will slowly witness how these characters have so much to say, and the reflection of their actions is seen.

The color tones of this movie set a whole new mood for this story, really brilliant, and also the camera angles are so interesting. Even, the soundtrack is so soothing. I love every single frame of this movie.

The ending of this movie is when it hit me, why the movie was titled "That Day, on the Beach", What really matters is that, who walked away from THAT DAY ON THE BEACH. Life is all about moving on, nothing is constant. Edward Yang played with my emotions. I don't know why...I felt the emotions.

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Unmasking the truth

A run down nursing centre that used to be a psychiatric hospital. Medical staff and patients being held hostage at gunpoint by a robber in a creepy clown mask. A young doctor still traumatised by the death of his fiancée and unborn child happens to be on shift duty. It’s all happening on one fateful night. But is there more than meets the eye?

This mystery thriller is an adaptation of the 2014 novel with the same name by prolific author and former medical doctor, Mikito Chinen. He has written many medical-themed books and Masked Ward is part of his Ward mystery series. He co-wrote the screenplay along with the director, Kimura Hisashi (TRICK series), Koyama Shota (Dragon Zakura) and Itaru Era. Yutaka Yamada (Imawa no Kuni no Alice, Kingdom) serves as composer while the 36th single from Japanese 6-member rock band UVERworld (Avalanche), AS ONE, is used as the theme song.

What I Generally Liked

The plot is rather layered and filled with unexpected plot twists that unfolds amidst a slowburn tempo fraught with a certain degree of suspense. The conclusion ties all the loose ends neatly and provides a satisfying closure to the entire story and each of its main characters.

The characters are decently written, particularly the main leads, Hayami Shugo and Kawasaki Hitomi. The film takes its time to explore their complex backstories which establishes their respective multifaceted characterizations. This process enables an emotional connection with viewers to buy-in their motivations in the story, as it certainly did with me. That said, I would have appreciated the supporting characters being more fleshed out, which unfortunately does not happen.

Personally I thought Kentaro Sakaguchi (Okaeri Mone) put in a fine performance in his portrayal of Hayami Shugo. He manages to convincingly embody the gradual evolution of the character throughout the film. Nagano Mei (Hakozume: Tatakau! Koban Joshi) showcases an intriguing depiction of Kawasaki Hitomi where she succeeds in conveying the duality of the character’s persona.

What Fell Short

From a technical perspective, the production doesn’t really impress. I would have liked to have seen more finesse in the cinematography to elevate the suspense and intrigue of pivotal scenes. Likewise the BGM which had so much room for improvement. On the other hand, the set design of the hospital setting does appear adequately presented.

The film lacks the eerie or sinister vibes to its atmospherics that would have heightened the sense of trepidation and tension that the narrative is trying to convey to viewers. A truly untapped potential there that points to a missed opportunity.

The logic behind some of the characters’ actions is questionable as well as the possibility of plot holes in the storyline. Without delving or spoiling the mystery too much, let’s just say that the hostage taker in this film is a lot nicer than most in real life.

Final Thoughts

I think the storytelling turned out to be a lot less powerful and provocative than it was intended to be, attributed mainly to the shortcomings or lack of quality execution in certain aspects of the production. As a one time watch, it was an interesting viewing experience but ultimately it could’ve been so much better.

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"You Should Say Something Wise"....Ma Yuan - "Shut Up"

I would recommend you NOT watch this movie.

If I had known this was a Jackie Chan movie, I would have skipped it completely.

He is not funny, he is lousy in martial arts, and he is a pain in the butt, according to his co-stars.

Even so, I guess that I am gong to have to buy this movie as well; I buy each and every one of his movies because they are so bad!

When I have friends over, I always show one of his movies to show how BAD his acting and kung fu really is!

(Someone has to show people how bad Jackie and his movies really are!)

The cinematography was terrible; the music was terrible and the actors, main and support, are all terrible.

Especially, Yamaguchi (Ikeuchi Hiroyuki); the actors playing Yuko (Zhang Lan Xin) and Huang Yi Feng (Na Wei) probably had to get rabies shots after the one scene was filmed with him...Terrible!

Also, do not watch this movie is you have a bad heart; you could DIE from not laughing while watching this movie!

RE-WATCH: only to show your friends how bad of an actor Jackie Chan is!

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I love D/s and FemDom in particular and since these stories are very rare outside the rather sleazy p*rn vids out there, I was very excited to see this. The movie portrayed the relationship between Ji Woo and Ji Hoo with humor, sweetness and sincerity and the actors oozed charm. The cinematography in the D/s scenes was great, especially in the bathtub and the mirror scenes, it was aesthetics pure, wow!

Still, there were things that didn't click with me.

Doggie play is a big turn-off for me. If it's your thing, then more power to you, but personally, I find one partner acting like an animal very creepy for obvious reasons. Another thing was that they pretty much brushed off the thing with Ji Hoo's ex which promised good angst but it went nowhere in the end. I get it, it was a movie with no space for big explorations outside the main topic but... well.

And then, the climax. I disliked that it was about the office thing. Because in this case, Ji Woo and Ji Hoo were in the wrong. They - together with everyone else there who had done things they shouldn't have at work - deserved to be sacked ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overall, it was a fun movie that definitely broke the mold a little. South Korea's been very good with their Alpha!FLs and Beta!MLs lately. I love it!

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It's all about your expectations!

So what was I expecting ?

At most, I thought the movie would give us an extremely condensed version of the series with a few new stuff sprinkled at the end. Something like: "They married, adopted three kids, got two dogs, kept in contact with all their friends and lived happily ever after." Then I would shed tears of love and joy and all would be right with the world.

Were my expectations realistic? When I think about it, not really. I wouldn't love this series half as much if they hadn't taken the time to introduce a ton of lovable characters, a lot of ups and downs with some tasty slow burn... all things I love. All things that are not possible to translate in a 2 hour movie, however much I would like the think it is...

So were my expectations met ? Partly.

STORY

Do you like voiceovers? Have you always wanted to know what happened in Tine's and Sarawat's cute little heads as all those scenes we know and love happened (or at least the most important ones)? Do you like both of their voices so much that you dream of having them read you a story while you watch the scenes unfold?
Well look no further: this is the movie for you! Tine first, then Sarawat take you on this brief journey across the most important moments of the series (with some brief allusions to Still 2gether). This retelling is sandwiched between a few scenes of never before seen stuff in the not too far future. The new stuff is short and sweet but it's there.

So there you have it! If you knew the series before, the only interest is the actual voiceover to have some more context in the inner workings of our two adorable goofballs and the new stuff. As a fan, I'll say that it was mostly fun, but nothing more. If you've never seen the series before, THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU and I cannot stress this enough.

ACTING

The film consisting mostly of a shorter edit of the series, nothing new there. If you liked the acting then, it's still there with some voiceover on top.
As far as the new scenes go, we see the whole cast (at least I think so) but it's very brief. For all that we see them, they seem happy to be there and that's really all they need to be at this point.
As for the two leads... Bright is an excellent actor in my opinion and he really gives a great send off to Sarawat. Win is there... and that's it. It's still him, but it's my opinion that he was done with Tine far before this film came about. He is not a good enough actor (yet) to hide that he is required to be here but not much else. I found his smiles extremely forced.

MUSIC

Still good. Still familiar. Still there.

REWATCH VALUE

None? It was funny enough to hear the voiceover once and I managed to keep myself entertained until the end of the movie, but if I rewatch it, it'll be for the new stuff. FAST FORWARD BABY!

OVERALL

Set your expectations for this one guys ! We were never gonna get something as good as the series. They told us it would just be a little new stuff and a lot of what we've already seen. That's what they gave us. They even tried to make it feel new with the voiceover instead of just savagely cannibalising the series to make it fit a movie. Let's be happy with that and move on.
We already had 2gether and Still 2gether and now we have this little nice send-off to wrap it all up with a bow. Of course I was a little disappointed, but I'll live. I still love this series and I'll rewatch it many times. But it's time to say goodbye to Sarawat and Tine because Bright and Win won't forever wait for us to move on...

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Not sure what the point was.

I loved the series, so of course I loved the movie, even though it was a recap. There is very little new footage, and, frankly, I was a little disappointed there wasn't an engagement. I really thought that was what was going to happen. No real rewatch value as there's nothing new to see except they graduate. Not even a new kiss.
But other than revenue, what was the point? I mean, they didn't get engaged, we don't learn anything new about them as a couple except they get a dog and feel they'll be together forever. No real scenes added. We did get to see a moment of TopTap and others and a couple of friends had a baby, but none of that merited calling it a movie, imo.

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The Final Siege

Based on the 2007 novel, Nobou no Shiro, by Ryo Wada who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Co-directed by Isshin Inudo and Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla). The theme song, Zureteruhougai, is performed by Elephant Kashimashi. Initially slated for a 2011 release, a one-year delay ensued due to the devastation caused by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster. This film eventually garnered multiple awards at the 36th Japan Academy Prize.

This film feels very much like a taiga that has been condensed into a 2-hour grand production. Epic in every sense and meticulous in every detail. In spite of the slightly comedic undertone particularly pertaining to the characterization of the main lead, the narrative is quite dramatic and somewhat grim, for the most part.

What I Liked
- Production values: This is an expensively assembled film and it truly shows. The sets, filming locales, costumes, cast and sheer numbers of the extras are top notch.

- Technical execution: Cinematic visuals with attention to detail in the production design, costuming, art direction, cinematography, fight choreography in massive battle scenes and the list goes on.

- VFX component: This film utilises no small amount of visual effects, not only with CGI but also the use of "matte painting" that combines live-action with composite images of painted landscapes as the background. The end result is stunning.

- The amazing story which is a heavily romanticized account of the Sengoku period in the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification of feudal Japan.

- The performances of the cast, particularly the main lead, Nomura Mansai who won the outstanding actor award for his portrayal of Narita Nagachika. He is absolutely phenomenal where he draws upon his comedic roots from Kyogen stage acting to breathe life into this excellently written characterization.

Final Thoughts
A visual spectacle, riveting story and compelling acting. The Floating Castle is truly deserving of the numerous film honours awarded. Whether as a retelling of history or pure entertainment, the 140 minutes running time flew by easily and has been well worth the watch indeed.

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Mario looking his best

The concept is fun, the story ultimately disappoints but if you are a Mario fan, then it’s still a pleasure to watch as he looks so good and lovable with all youthful innocence as the stumbling AI turned human especially for the first half of the movie… easily have you rooting for him and wanting him to succeed. The chemistry between the leads are good but actually fizzled after they got together…. Then the climatic moment was indeed a letdown, it kind of feel like the script writer left the job in a hurry and they decided to just wrap production … the potential of really engaging the audience to care and feel for their relationship was wasted by the lazy third half of the movie. However, despite all these, if you like Mario and wants to see him looking in his 20s again, then it is still a fun little eye candy romcom to spend your time when you want to relax.

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Dad, did you continue looking for me?

Fun fact, actress Kim So Hyun who played Hye Rin beat out 499 other aspiring actresses in a 5 round audition to secure this role. Ultimately she was called back and made her debut, this without any acting experience. And the rest is history. She was for me the best actress here.

Speaking of debut's, this is also the director's debut, and it certainly feels that way because this is not his genre. It tried to be different but failed miserably. Political slow burn like Director Woo Min Ho's later works were much better.

How easily can your faith and belief changed? To what lenght are you willing to do to save a love one? What happens when a crime is forgotten? This is answered in Man of vendetta, which honestly is a bad title to what it was trying to potray.

Story wasn't anything new and just so so, but there were lots of elements like guilt and religion but as the movie progresses it just disappeares for no apparent reason. Also recommend watching this blind, because the trailer's give away too much.

Uhm Ki Joon was amazing despite the lacking script, his villain role was chillingly good. As I said in the start, Him and So Hyun was the only one's that delivered a good performance here. It was a Reminiscent of Joo Dan Tae in the Penthouse series. The character Choi Byung Chul lacked believability in the psychopath role and showed no depth throughout that the actor saved it.

The script was so bad that Kim Hyung Min forgot to act. Joo Young Soo also had zero depth, unrootable, and was the same zzzzz character throughout.

The film would have benefited from a shorter time span, 2hrs was a nightmare. I get that it was trying to go for a different approach but tagging it as a thriller crime it failed miserably, could have passed as a melodrama.

Premise is unclear, it wanted to tackle disturbing topics, but didn't want to go deep, honestly frustrating.

The condition of Hye Rin was one of the only interesting things in the film, and So Hyun barely even got screentime. It was disappointing how it gave little to no focus to it but at least the acting of Sohyun gave clarity of the trauma the character has faced.

Another positive is the cinematography and music of the film. It was good and engaging that mafe us feel like we're living the characters lives. One of the few redeeming qualities.

Ending was also good, heart wrenching and emotional.

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Overall it's a average mystery thriller and not something you should watch right now as priority. If you want movies of this genre, the yellow sea, the man from nowhere, and the vengeance trilogy are better films to watch. If you're like me and are here for the cast then go ahead, it'll be torelable so it's fine.

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Light-hearted and Cute, but Unrealistic and Illogical

Completed - 2/18/2022 - 7.75 rating

If you are not watching this aired weekly, it's best to watch the movie version than the drama version. The story flows better and it's not as fragmented. This is a cute and light-hearted BL drama/movie, with decent chemistry and somewhat good-looking actors. Also, something is wrong with the synopsis here, "After a serious row, he is thrown out of the family home and is left with an emotional wound. " <--- I didn't see that happening!! Serious row? Thrown out??

What I enjoy:
1. I like the bus scene with their pinkies in the air. Really cute!
2. Cute interactions between the leads.
3. Great songs - Korean BL dramas never disappoint me with their songs.
4. Production value seems decent enough for a low-budget web drama.

What I don't enjoy (spoilers):
1. The acting of Won Hyung Hoon (Creditor) is not very good. I know his character is supposed to be quiet, but he comes off as bland and emotionless.
2. Unrealistic and illogical plot lines (stop reading if you don't want my cynicism to spoil your happy bubble):
= Will a debt collector really trust you enough to extend your loan payment for a month after a dance that's not even that good?
= The whole debt collector profession in this drama is unrealistic.
= If a debt collector moves in with you, you should kick him out immediately (DANGER!), no matter how nice he seems.
= Just because Shi On got the audition to play the lead role, doesn't mean he automatically has money. He actually has to work first to get paid. Why does it seem like the loan is totally forgiven all of a sudden?
= If they assume the loan is forgiven, then why did Hong Seok leave Shi On in the end? As Shi On said, the previous relationship ended and they can start anew. Why leave? I still don't get it.

Though it seems like I dislike this drama/movie, I did have an enjoyable time. I needed something light and short, and it suits my needs. I just can't give it a higher rating, as it doesn't seem fair to the other dramas that I rated a 8.0 and above.

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Dang, Japan strikes again with this one.

Wow…. Honestly, I didn’t expect myself to love this movie so much. I was actually interested in the drilling ice core topic that they’ve shown in the trailer, cause my university lecturer used to say that ice core could be used to calculate the oxygen level years ago, and I got a little bit too curious so I watched this movie.

And what I didn’t expect at all was—contrary to where the story of this movie took place: the cold, dry, and lonely Antarctica—this movie is amazingly very warm, in a sense that you will be surprised to find yourself smiling through the movie, because of how heartwarming it is. The Chef of South Polar depicts perfectly how it feels to suddenly work miles away from where your home and your family are, how it feels to spend a year with strangers, how it feels to slowly driven into madness because you are fed up with your job but deep down you were just feeling really homesick and… lonely.

This movie has its funny moments too (and madly funny at that!), we get to see how these Oji-san being chaoticly funny and endearing at the same time. But the focus of this movie is actually leaning more towards the chef in the team. I love how they told us about the background story of the chef, which showed us that he actually doesn’t wanna go to Antarctica, but he has to. And I also love how they make the chef very attentive and full of affection towards his cooking ingredients, the food, as well as the people he used to call as strangers. He did have his meltdowns too, like the others, and omg it did make my eyes water, haha.

What I really love tho, is the accurate depiction of feeling homesick and having meltdowns because of it. My friends from university who has to live far from their family to pursue education used to told me the same thing what these Oji-san were experiencing. Sometimes they just wanna be crazy and give up to their cravings, just like the characters in this movie. Plus, that scene where it shows midnight craving for noodles? Very accurate!

I kinda wanna see the background story of each characters though, they are all very unique and interesting (especially the glaciologist, but well this is just a personal and selfish request of mine, hehe). All in all, It’s so delightful to see them spend their work and time as a team and as a family, miles away from their hometown, working their way out to heal their lonely soul with warm foods from the chef ❤️.

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